TAIGA

Film screening of Taiga at Kino Studio Commercio Zürich during the exhibition Travel journal by Ulrike Ottinger with a foreword by Walther Heissig and an afterword by Erika Taube

Ulrike Ottinger´s destination in the early 1990s was the Darkhad valley in Northern Mongolia. The results of this journey included an eight hour film about the yak and reindeer nomads (1992), a travel journal with photographs (1992) and an audio drama. In the touring exhibition Taiga, which started out from the Zurich Völkerkundemuseum (ethnographic museum), Ottinger organised some 200 black-and-white photographs under 16 thematic headings and hung them in groups, triptychs or blocks. The photo-ensembles were accompanied by recordings of songs, shamanic chants, tales, conversations and myths. The interaction of textual and visual levels gave the visitor an vibrant impression of the Taiga. "Songs of praise to the Darkhad valley: When you look around, you see peace and wellbeing, evergreen forests and snow-capped mountains. The forests are full of game for the hunt. The earth is rich in treasures. Argali bound on the mountaintops. There are sables living in the forests. Clear springs heal all sickness. Lakes with fish and birds. Six noble species. Blessed be this country for time eternal and for many generations."*

* Taiga. Eine Reise ins nördliche Land der Mongolen, 1993 (Exhibition booklet)

WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION
213 Photographs were exhibited under the following 16 headings I. Portraits: Self Manifestations II.Jurten Still Life III. Dairy Farming IV. Schaman Baldsher V. Sacrificial Altar. Holy Tree - Owoo - Örgöl/ VI. Schaman Bajar VII. Nomads of the Five Noble Spcies VIII. Feasts IX. Departure for the Winter Camp X. Schischgid-Gol (frontal flow of the Jenissei) XI. Sojon-Uriangchaj at the Tingis XII. Taiga XIII. The Ergzeg-Dolma Family in the South Taiga VIV. Ökijg. A Relative of the Ergzeg-Dolma Family in the Settlements Ulaan Uul XV. Settlements XVI. Chöwsgöl Nuur.