In the Art Gallery of Ulaanbaatar, an exhibition has opened with the name “Mongolia, a century ago in the lens of a French photographer” to display about 80 color photos and 25-minute video showing Mongolia, Mongolian people and its capital city Niislel Khuree a century ago. The exhibition had been hosted in at the Albert Kahn Museum in Paris.
The history tells early 20th century French millionaire, banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn financed a journey of a French photographer Stephane Passet to Mongolia to take color photos for his collection. Kahn used his vast fortune to send a group of intrepid photographers to more than fifty countries around the world, often at crucial junctures in their history, when age-old cultures were on the brink of being changed forever, by war or the march of twentieth-century globalization. Nowadays, over 150 photos about Mongolia are available in Albert Kahn Museum.
Although there is a large number of photos and historical document telling the history of Mongolian a century ago, these exhibits are unique and priceless for having leaving the situation of that time on color photos and on video.
The French photographer shows us Ulaanbaatar city of 1912 taken on the Tasgan Ovoo. The photos of the today’s Ulaanbaatar are staged as well to allow visitors to compare the city in different times. The French photographer took his pictures six months after Mongolia declared its independence.
The exhibition co-hosted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Embassy of France in Mongolia and Albert Kahn Museum of Hauts - de – Seine will run for two months.