MUNKHTSETSEG JALKHAAJAV (Mugi) (b. 1967) graduated from the Fine Arts College of Mongolia and the Minsk Academy of Fine Arts and is an artist whose artistic practice incorporates sculptures, paintings, videos, collages and performances and explores the notion of pain, fear, healing, and rebirth. Mainly reflecting her personal experiences, Mugi’s work investigates the complexities of female bodies, minds, and souls, and the connection with one-self and nature, capturing the tensions between different realms. Seemingly fictional yet grounded, her unique works embody invisible forces, such as spirits and myths, and tell sensible stories of women, unborn children, and the sorrowful fates of animals.
She presented her works locally and internationally in USA, Italy, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Thailand, and Taiwan. Mugi was invited to notable international art exhibitions such as Beijing Biennale, Fukuoka Asian Triennale, and Taiwan-Fusing Biennale. Moreover, her exhibition “Reincarnation” was shown at European Culture Center, Venice, Italy in 2015. She was featured at international magazines such as Asian Art News and the was included in the book titled “Best 100 Female Artists in Asia” by the Fukuoka Museum of Asian Art.
Education
1983-1987 Fine Art College, Ulaanbaatar
1989-1993 Academy of Fine Art, Minsk, Russia
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Life In-Between: Contemporary Art Perspective , Mongolia Tibetan Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2019 Inside Passage or A Journey Through Vulnerability, Art Space 976+, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2018 Reincarnation, Red Ger Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2017 Healing, Toono Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2015 Reincarnation, Venice 2015, Personal Structures, Palazzo Bembo, Italy
2013 Spirits of the Steppe, Luxe Art Museum, Singapore
2012 Earthbound, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2012 From the Heart, Arts Council of Mongolia grant, Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2011 Les Gardiens Du Vent, Distellerie Gallery, Bulle, Switzerland
2009 The Silence of Healing at the Edge of the World”, Teo+Namfah Gallery, Thailand
2009 Blue Sky reflected in the Northern Face, Striped Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2004 House of Women, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2004 Indiana Memorial Gallery, Bloomington, Indiana
2003 Exhibition-E&M, Arts Council of Mongolia grant, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar , Mongolia
2000 Exhibition E&M, Nomad Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
1999 Dream of Aquarius, Grand of “MFOS” Soros Foundation, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
1995 Solo exhibition, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Group Exhibitions
2018 Speaking Lights and Shadows, Art Space 976+, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2017 Beyond Heaven and Earth: Mongolian Art In This Day and Age, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2017 Transcending Territories, Shin Thai Art Gallery, Huh Hot, China
2017 Under the Willow Art Salon, San Francisco
2013 Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1985-2013, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
2012 Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
2012 Urban Narratives – new contemporary mongolian art, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2011 Modern Mongolia: From Steppe to Urban Dynamics, Hanart IT Gallery and Hanart Square, Hong Kong
2010 From Imagination to Creation, Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery
2010 Smoke in the Brain, Red Ger Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2008 Taiwan-Fusing Biennale
2008 Beijing International Art Biennale-3
2005 Beijing International Art Biennale-2, China
2005 Contemporary Silk Road Festival, Worth Ryder Gallery, Berkeley, California, USA
2003 The Beppu Asia Contemporary Art Exhibition, B-CON plaza, Japan
2002 Epic of the Nomads, Moran Modern Art Museum, Korea
2000 Progress of the World’s Women, International exhibition, Lobby Center of UN, New York
2000 Women of the World, White Column Gallery, New York
2001 Painting, Som Arts, San Francisco
2000 Nine Treasures, Fraum Museum, Bonn, Germany
2000 Shaman of the Chinggis Khan, Seoul, Korea
2000 00-87, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Art Projects
2018 Reincarnation, contemporary dance, Motion Mongolia Dance Festival, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
International Art Workshops
2014 Time and Space, Arts Council of Mongolia and Arts Council of South Korea, South Gobi Province, Mongolia
2012 Khoj International Artists’ Association and White Crane Arts & Media Collaboration, Dharamsala, India
Awards
2013 Goo Maral – Art Prize
1995 Prize from UMA