Exhibit opening, screening, & talk

Tuesday April 9, 2013, 7:30 PM

Moderated by Patrick Witty, international picture editor at TIME 

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I first traveled to Mongolia in the summer of 2008, went back in 2011 and returned again the winter of 2013. During this period of not even five years, I was astounded by the deep change in the country’s habits and culture. The nomads keep living the herder‘s life, but the young generations are now holding the balance of the survival of the traditional lifestyle. My work is an extended subjective portrait of a country in transition. Mongolia nests countless and invaluable mineral deposits--gold, silver, copper, coal, among others--that are attracting foreign investment and making its economy the fastest growing in the world. My vision of Mongolia is aware of the changes but keeps an eye on its past: the traditional nomadic life, slowly dissipating, and the old Soviet remembrance, now fading behind the spread of capitalism. In a way, Mongolia is already a memory of itself, and I wish to preserve this memory by looking at it with the eyes of an observer marveled and bewildered by how the smallest details narrate the story of a country and that of its inhabitants.

CHIARA GOIA was born and raised in Italy. Her clients include The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Time, Le Figaro, and Vanity Fair. Among her recognitions are the Sony World Photography Award, the Canon prize for emerging photographers, and PDN's 30. Documenting Mongolia’s dizzying transformations is an ongoing project.

 

All photos © Chiara Goia.