GANTUYA BADAMGARAV holds an MA in Macroeconomic Policy from Williams College, MA, USA, has worked for international development agencies as an economic analyst and consultant and later held strategic management positions in the largest conglomerates in Mongolia. In 2012, following her passion, Gantuya founded the 976 Art Gallery and the Mongolian Contemporary Art Support Association with the aim to support and promote Mongolian contemporary art.
Given limited resources and high risk, Gantuya worked actively to support contemporary art; uniting organizations and people to channel their resources and passion. She has organized and curated over 100 exhibitions in Mongolia, most notably all three consecutive editions of Mongolia’s participation at the highly renowned global art exhibition and event, the Venice Art Biennale. She has additionally supported the participation of Mongolian artists in other internationally distinguished exhibitions such as Documenta, the Gwangju Biennale and the Asia Pacific Triennial. In 2019, Gantuya curated A Temporality, the Mongolia Pavilion’s exhibition at the 58th Venice Art Biennale where she collaborated with the internationally renowned German artist Carsten Nicolai. The idea and unique experimental quality behind the exhibition was internationally recognized, receiving the Goethe International Co-Production Fund Award and featured in over 30 news articles and interviews amongst which it was cited by many as one of the “best”, “must-see” and “top” exhibitions among the 119 participating national pavilions.
Founded by Gantuya, 976 Art Gallery is known for its conceptually engaging and experimental exhibitions and has become a crossing point for artists and intellectuals alike, marking it as a cultural hub of the city of Ulaanbaatar. In 2020, the gallery temporarily closed its physical location due to the pandemic. However, during this period, Gantuya initiated the “Nomadic Red Corner” project to bring art closer to the Ger Districts of Ulaanbaatar, where the majority of the city’s rural migrants live. Since then, the program has implemented three notable projects that created artistic neighborhoods across different locations of the capital city in collaboration with Mongolian artists. The “Ger International Residency” was later created with the aim to bring international and local artists together to create art districts and organize creative programs for the children and youth of Ger districts.
She was invited as a speaker to the 8th World Summit for Arts and Culture in Malta 2016, the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi 2018, and the GAAB Warsaw Summit 2019 and is one of the authors of “Daybook” published by Documenta 14.