PROTECTING THE BOGD KHAAN PALACE
Due to centuries of maintaining a nomadic lifestyle, which requires constant seasonal moves, Mongolians have left scarce permanent buildings, structures and architecture that reflect our proud histories.
While this scarcity of historic buildings, structures and architecture is unfortunate, it is even more unfortunate that there is a lack of maintenance, conservation and preservation done on these few buildings that meet international quality standards. However, it isn’t a lack of desire to preserve and protect these historic buildings that have caused the current decline of the buildings, but a lack of support, knowledge, experience and funding.
This desire and predicament is evident in the maintenance of one such historic building site, the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum Complex, which was built between the late 19th to early 20th century. The complex, named the Green Palace, consists of the Winter Palace and the Seven Wisdom Glorifying Summer Temples, which are the only remaining intact palace complex that belonged to Bogd Khaan, who had a total of four, including the Red Palace, the White Palace and the State Yellow Palace, which were all unfortunately lost during the Mongolian Socialist Period.
For the purpose of preparing a large conservation project to be conducted for the Summer Temples of the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum, the museum agreed to a working relationship with the Institute of Conservation at the University of Applied Art Vienna in Austria and to host two Austrian conservation experts from August 13 to 21. The agreement further included a research, survey and sampling.
The agreement was overseen by O.Mendsaikhan, the director of the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum and Mrs. Gabriela Krist, the director of the Conservation Institute who has previously worked with Mongolian cultural institutions and is a valuable colleague in the field of cultural conservation.
The summer temples of the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum, which the project and workshop will focus on, are over a hundred years old and are a reflection of a period in Mongolian history that incorporated radical shifts in politics, monarchy, religion and art.
This collaborative polychromy conservation research project also involved the participation of the Cultural Heritage Center of Mongolia and the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture.
The project was generously funded by the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet, which has previously supported the implementation of various other cultural projects and exhibitions in Mongolia, including the most recent exhibition at the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum titled “Artifacts as Links: Retracing Hans Leder”.
The project also marks the second time the Institute of Conservation at the University of Applied Arts and Mrs. Gabriela Krist collaborated with the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum for the purpose of conservation. The first time was in 2013 and included a workshop on textile conservation, which was attended by the museum’s head curator.
Also, part of the project included organizing and facilitating a practical workshop titled “Cultural Heritage Conservation in Mongolia”, which included an introduction to building surveys with a focus on polychromy (color and paint), documentation and sampling.
The workshop was overseen by Ms. Katharina Kohler, who is a PhD student pursing her degree in the study of the polychromy of old buildings. Katharina has extensive experience in the conservation and restoration of monastery and temple polychromy, including her work in Ladakh, North India, where she worked on several Buddhist monasteries. Her experience in working with Buddhist temples and monasteries is especially valuable, considering that the majority of the handful of Mongolian historic buildings mainly comprise of Buddhist temples and monasteries, including Amarbayasgalant Monastery, Erdene-Zuu Monastery, Dambadorjo Monastery.
Several experienced senior conservators and restorers from the Cultural Heritage Center and Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture participated in the workshop, including S.Ganzam, E.Batjargal, M.Chinbat, N.Khosbayar, and Munguntsooj, as well as the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum conservator N.Enkh-Manlai and renowned artist T.Jamyansuren.
Four of the seven workshop participants have either attended or been selected to attend the Institute of Conservation at the University of Applied Arts Vienna for in depth semester courses on their chosen field of conservation.
On August 16, the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum, in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Center, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports, organized and hosted a panel meeting to discussion to inform and exchange knowledge and information regarding the polycrhomy conservation research project. The panel meeting was attended by various distinguished scholars, conservators, directors, structural engineers and members of the conservation and architecture field in Mongolia.
The discourse part of this meeting allowed for a rich flow in knowledge and experience to be shared and highlighted the importance of conservation efforts and how best to proceed with Mongolian cultural conservation in the future.
With the workshop successfully concluded, the next step in this project is to conduct laboratory analysis on the paint samples collected during the workshop and determine whether the results will be viable for use in the restoration of the summer temples. The laboratory analysis will be conducted in Austria and will involve the participation of Ms. Katharina Kohler, N.Khosbayar and M.Chinbat.
After an analysis and report is completed, long term plans include applying for the Austrian Science Fund and undergo on-site conservation and restoration efforts.
This joint collaborative project and workshop was not only another step in friendly international relations between Mongolia and Austria, but a valuable means of learning, teaching, and a much needed step forwards protecting one of Mongolia’s few historic buildings, structures and architecture.