Cabinet of Curiosities – which opens at Valletta Contemporary on Friday May 16 – is a retrospective of one of Mongolia’s most remarkable artists, Otgonbayar Ershuu who goes by the moniker OtGo. The works dates from the past 12 years, and ranges from miniatures to panoramic paintings over three meters in height. Many are being shown in public for the first time, in this, his first solo exhibition in Malta.
The exhibition also includes a set of groups of works for which the exhibition is named. These ‘Cabinets of Curiosities’ are inspired by varied themes including Apes, Memento Mori, Fetuses and Horses. Each piece in these series comprises curious and colourful drawings of animals and characters in ink and acrylics over dozens of stamps from all over the world. The stamps – which he has been collecting since he was a child – perhaps symbolize the journey OtGo has taken, from his home country of Mongolia to Malta via Berlin.
“I now own several hundred thousand stamps,” OtGo smiles. “This isn’t just a painting exhibition, but also an international stamp exhibition! The stamps are all over thirty years old and some are 100 years old or more. I attach great importance to used stamps because each one has its own story. Each artwork uses an interesting mixed collection which is a miniature world worth exploring.”
OtGO has now been living in Berlin for two decades which has heavily influenced his artistic practice, although his spiritual core remains firmly rooted in Mongolia’s cultural heritage.
In essence, art in Mongolia today is fuelled by its cultural heritage primarily rooted in Tengrism, an ancient spiritual tradition rooted in shamanism, animism, and the worship of the sky god Tengri which emphasises harmony with the universe and nature. It is also influenced by Lama-Buddhism, and also the achievements of a period of 250 years of peace after the revolutions of Genghis Khaan, a time described by Pope Francis, when visiting Mongolia, as the “Pax Mongolica”.
“It is noteworthy, says German artist and writer Thomas Eller, “that that the Mongolian language only has one word for both, painting and drawing – zurag. While drafting (drawing) and execution (painting) in a Western tradition are very separate things, in the Mongolian tradition there is no distinction between intention/conception and realization. What that means, is that artists from Mongolia start from a very different background than our Western ideas about art.”
OtGo also feels a strong affinity for Malta.
“I first came to Malta in 2015, and I felt compelled to return,” says OtGO. “I have been back six times now, staying for over a month each time. I come from Mongolia, one of the coldest regions in the world. However, what connects Malta and Mongolia is the sun. Although it is cold in Mongolia, the sun shines there 300 days a year and the skies are almost always clear, as they are in Malta. Of course, I am not the first Mongolian to come to Malta, but I am certainly the first Mongolian artist to bring a solo exhibition to Malta. Thus, I hope, begins a new history between the two cultures!”
Maria Eileen Fsadni at Valletta Contemporary describes how OtGo’s artistic practice is based on the mantra “Breathing in … breathing out … in … out – drawing a line. Repeat.” as he channels notions of art from Mongolia with energy and iterative line.
OtGo creates each work by drawing line after line, after line, to create complex textured pieces with pictorial traces, interwoven with layers of meaning. It is a meditative artistic practice – and, a ‘Thangkha-painter’, OtGo comes from a long tradition of religious image making in Lama-Buddhism, a tradition in which painting and meditation never were separate activities. In this tradition each line, each patch of colour is both, premeditated and meditation in itself. Lamaist monks were only allowed to apply their craft to to Thangkha-painting after long years of rigorous training.
“My colours speak and tell stories,” explains OtGo. “There is no single focus because everything is interconnected, networked, and interdependent. My paintings are fluid therefore, a constant transition from one moment to the next. It’s important to be in the here and now.”
“The concept behind these works is that new technologies and globalization are trying to make everything the same and control everything. As a result, we lose our identity and uniqueness every day. I would like to give people a moment to reflect on this.”
OtGo began some of his latest works in Germany and completed them in Malta where he is fascinated by this country’s prehistory. “I’d like to ask visitors to the exhibition, what connections between the works and Malta have you noticed?”
And for me, I believe I see the influence of the graffiti at Gozo’s Citadel. What will you spot?
Cabinet of Curiosities at Valletta Contemporary runs until June 21