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‘A crime against culture’: Mongolian capital Ulan Bator set to demolish Soviet-era buildings – activists fight to save them and scent corruption

South China Morning Post

發布於 2019年10月17日10:10 • Aubrey Menarndt
  • The Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum has already been torn down, but the people of the city are hoping to save some other buildings
  • They are urging the government to use the money that it has earmarked for demolition and reconstruction for renovation instead
Sukhbaatar Square in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator. Several Soviet-era buildings surrounding the square are slated for demolition. Residents of the capital city are fighting the plans. Photo: Alamy.
Sukhbaatar Square in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator. Several Soviet-era buildings surrounding the square are slated for demolition. Residents of the capital city are fighting the plans. Photo: Alamy.

On October 7, Mongolia's Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum was demolished. The museum was housed in one of Ulan Bator's oldest buildings, a small, brown wooden house in the centre of the city, which stood in contrast to the high-rises surrounding it.

The structure was once home to former Prime Minister Genden, who in 1937 was taken to Moscow, Russia, and executed for his refusal to comply with Joseph Stalin's mandate to purge the country of its religious leaders, intellectuals, political dissidents, and ethnic minorities. With Genden out of the way, Stalin ordered the massacre of an estimated 20,000 to 35,000 Mongolians. Until last Monday, the museum told their stories.

As the parliament began its autumn legislative agenda, the government budget for the year revealed several line items financing the demolition of the city's Natural History Museum, Opera and Ballet House, Drama Theatre, and Central Library. The Natural History Museum is expected to be demolished first, on October 30.

The buildings set for demolition are some of the city's most beautiful.

The Drama Theatre is one of the buildings earmarked for demolition. Photo: Alamy
The Drama Theatre is one of the buildings earmarked for demolition. Photo: Alamy

While recent years have brought the growth of high-rise developments and cement flat blocks, these endangered historic buildings have Grecian-style pillars set against ornate and brightly coloured facades. The interior of the Drama Theatre is filled with chandeliers, arched doorways, and elaborate floor tiling.

A night out to the ballet is also a treat " the beautiful interior and world-class performances draw tourists and residents alike.

The Natural History Museum is expected to be demolished first on October 30. Photo: Alamy
The Natural History Museum is expected to be demolished first on October 30. Photo: Alamy

The buildings were constructed according to an urban plan; they surround Sukhbaatar Square " the city's central gathering point " and each is a short walk from the government palace.

They represent a time of transition in Mongolia's history. While under Soviet influence, Mongolians planned a city centred around culture and knowledge.

"Though we were nomads, we did not build the city on scraps," says Uyanga Tsoggerel, who is organising protests to save these buildings, and is a board member of NGO Ulan Bator Citizens' Forum. "We were preparing to build a new intellectual society from nomadic culture. Even though it's the Soviet period, it's our history."

Baatarbileg Yondonperenlei, Mongolia's Minister of Education, Culture, Science, and Sports, tours the Natural History Museum, highlighting the building's deterioration. It was closed five years ago. Photo: Byamba Ochir
Baatarbileg Yondonperenlei, Mongolia's Minister of Education, Culture, Science, and Sports, tours the Natural History Museum, highlighting the building's deterioration. It was closed five years ago. Photo: Byamba Ochir

The Mongolian government has justified their decision by explaining that the buildings are architecturally unsound and could be susceptible to seismic activity.

They have attempted to assuage citizens' outcry by promising to rebuild the museum in a similar design in a location in the far southern portion of the city, notably in an area that is meant to be an undeveloped nature preserve.

If the museums are rebuilt there, reaching them from the downtown area is likely to mean long hours of sitting in traffic, which will make cultural activities less accessible and is likely to dissuade potential visitors.

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Citizens began raising awareness about the scheduled demolitions at the end of September by hosting daily sit-ins outside the Natural History Museum. Musicians have come to play songs to the assembled crowds, and artists have set up easels to sketch the building.

Tsoggerel, the protest convenor, is dissatisfied with the governments' plans. "Historical preservation does not mean demolishing something and rebuilding it as it was," she says.

She does not believe that the government will follow through on their promise to rebuild, explaining that while the budget includes money for demolition, it does not include funds for construction.

These neoclassically designed buildings have captivating architecture and are considered works of urban spatial artOchbaya Gerel

"Our government has broken many similar promises," she says, enumerating several commitments to the public that were never fulfilled.

Ulan Bator's history as a capital city is unique. It was established in 1639, but not in the way that most cities in the world at that time were. Because the Mongols were nomadic, the city, then named "Orgoo", was a mobile monastery town, its location changing as its residents picked up and moved their traditional tents, or gers, in tandem.

In 1778, the town settled in its current location in the valley below the Bogd Khan mountain where the Tuul and Selbe rivers run parallel. In 1924, after the city came under the control of Soviet Russia, it was renamed Ulan Bator, meaning "red hero".

The city's residents have been protesting against the proposed government plans to tear buildings down. Photo: Odbayar Erd
The city's residents have been protesting against the proposed government plans to tear buildings down. Photo: Odbayar Erd

Because nearly all Mongolians lived in portable ger structures until relatively recently (many still do), the city's historic buildings are precious and rare. The oldest surviving ones were only built in the early 1900s. The buildings slated for destruction were built from the late 1940s to early 1960s, making them some of the city's oldest and most beautiful.

"These neoclassically designed buildings have captivating architecture and are considered works of urban spatial art," explains Ochbayar Gerel, a research fellow at the Ulan Bator City Museum. "They were constructed during the Soviet era using the style of 'socialist essence with national patterns' to create a unique architectural blend.

"For example, sculpting horse heads on the columns of the Drama Theatre created a particular style of architecture that does not exist anywhere else in the world. Mongolia's best sculptors and painters of the time worked on the theatre's interior decoration and enshrined in them the artistic development of the time."

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With climate change, winters in Mongolian have become harsher. As a result, many nomads have abandoned their rural lives, migrating to the city in search of a better life. In the past 20 years, Ulan Bator's population has grown by 70 per cent. Because of the city's rapid growth, the land that these historic buildings sit on is central and valuable " it will make whoever comes to hold the land deed to it very wealthy.

Mongolians generally perceive their government as having high levels of corruption, and ranked political parties as the country's second most corrupt institution in a recent Asia Foundation survey. Many believe that the demolition of the city's cultural centres is nothing more than a land grab by those in power.

In 2014, in her former role as Mongolia's minister of culture, tourism, and sports, Oyungerel Tsedevdamba brought a successful suit against the Mongolian People's Party to bring Ulan Bator's Central State Museum back under state ownership after the party had secretly sold it to finance its 2012 election campaign.

The National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia building in Ulan Bator. The buildings to be demolished are among the most beautiful in the city.
The National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia building in Ulan Bator. The buildings to be demolished are among the most beautiful in the city.

She is suspicious that the latest demolition plans indicate that a similar scheme. "Sadly, we in Ulan Bator have witnessed many losses of historical buildings over the past two decades," she tells the Post. "All those historical buildings were somehow demolished before a parliamentary election. The land is sold or given as a collateral for big political loans." Mongolia is expected to hold its next parliamentary elections in the spring of 2020.

Protesters acknowledge that the buildings are in need of repair. The condition of the Natural History Museum, which closed five years ago, has since deteriorated. However, the other buildings are operational and are in better condition. Protesters are urging the government to use the money that it has promised for demolition and reconstruction to instead renovate the buildings.

Not all members of parliament are in agreement about the government's plans. "Tearing down museums and theatres is a crime against our history and culture," says parliamentarian Bold Luvsanvandan. He urges protesters to persist, saying: "If Ulan Bator citizens are truly proud of their city, they should defend and preserve these buildings."

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On October 8, protesters gained headway when the government said that it would reconsider the demolition of some, but not all of the buildings. Tsoggerel says that they will keep pushing for transparency and accountability in the management of the city's historical and cultural resources.

"We're trying to keep our memories," she says. "We do not have much, but we have some physical assets that can provide an urban history of our city's development."

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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