Mongolian contortion to be registered in UNESCO

Among Mongolia’s marvelous traditional arts, there are numerous unequalled and extraordinary forms. One of these is a contortionist who shows a magical human flexibility and graceful movements. In the every corner of the world, performances by Mongolian contortionists awe the audience and represent Mongolia with a magnificent display. Even some of the revered audiences want to touch the contortionists’ body to know whether they have real human bones or not. A special team is working to make the art of contortion, a one-of–a-kind art in Mongolia, registered with the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. Below is an interview with S.Yundenbat, the head of the Department for Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection of the Mongolian National Centre of Cultural Heritage. 

-How do you register contortion with UNESCO?

-An individual team is already doing this. UNESCO experts have advised us to clarify and fix some parts of the proposal material and therefore we are working pursuant to it. We have been re-formulating our material a few times in order to make it suitable as there are special criteria on registering things with World Cultural Heritage, UNESCO. 

-Who started this work?

-We have started the work after taking advice from the State Prized Artist, the People’s Actor B.Norovsambuu, who introduced the art of contortion to the global stage. We are currently working to make magnificent performances which were once performed by the State Prized Artist, the People’s Artist T.Tsend-Ayush, D.Majigsuren, registered in UNESCO. N.Batmunkh, B.Norovsambuu of the Foundation for Development of Art and Culture of Mongolia are conducting the work and the staff of the Mongolian National Centre of Cultural Heritage is assisting them. 

-Do you think that our contortion will be registered in UNESCO?

-We’ve had a positive response. However, we can’t be sure on whether it will be registered.