Abstract:
ABSTRACT
During the seventy years of socialism in Mongolia, the state governed arts and culture
sector (1921-1990) was established based on the European and Soviet models. The state
arts organizations had full funding support with widely available human and material resources
and well-established implementing structures. However, despite these advantages, the arts
organizations and artists were limited by the socialist ideology, suffered from strong censorship,
and restricted exposure to the international exchange platform.
Conversely, Mongolia became a democratic country in the remarkable year in 1990, and
made the shift from a government-centered economy to a free market economy. As a result,
triplicate transitions of the economic, social and political sectors took place in the last twenty
years. Through this transition period, the sector faced new challenges: limited funding and
materials, poor human resource management, and poor implementation. Consequently, state
organizations were forced to secure support from alternative sources, but due to outdated
knowledge and skills, the Soviet-educated management was challenged to secure additional
funding and respond to the supply and demand of the market.
Nonetheless, the sector that once fully belonged to the state has now been transferred
to non-profits and private ownership and has developed an effective legal system, enjoys
freedom of creativity and ideological pluralism, has improved its skills in securing outside
funding, has been exposed to a broader international exchange platform, and has become part
Economic and Social Transformation; Cultural Policy; Funding; Mongolia; Government Control
KEY WORDS
of the Arts
RESEARCH QUESTION
From the establishment of the Soviet regime in Mongolia in 1921, the funding of Mongolian
arts and culture sector solely based on government subsidy and censorship determined
the organizational nature and aesthetic legitimacy of cultural programming. However, since
the democratic revolution in 1990, a majority of arts organizations either closed down or
experienced significant funding cuts. As a result, a private arts sector has emerged in Mongolia.
Under what political, social, and economic circumstances these states, non-governmental and
private arts organizations is funded? And what are their most significant institutional challenges
and strategies in the post-Soviet transition?
