Ulaanbaatar
Scientific Conference Highlights Achievements in Safeguarding Mongol Biyelgee
Art & Culture
Ulaanbaatar, July 1, 2025 /MONTSAME/. The International Scientific Conference under the theme “Safeguarding and Strengthening the Viability of Mongolian Bii Biyeleg (Folk Dance)” was held in Ulaanbaatar on June 30, 2025.
The Conference was organized under the Project
“Sustaining and Transmitting Mongol Biyelgee” and discussed 15 presentations on
topics, including the types and styles of Bii Biyelgee, its melodic
accompaniment on Ikhel, one type of Morin
Khuur (horse-head fiddle), the interrelation with ethnic costumes and
adornments, the craftsmanship and designs of Ikhel, experiences in the inscription
of Bii Biyelgee on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent
Safeguarding of UNESCO, forms of transmission, the repertoire of the heritage
bearers, and factors of ensuring the viability of intangible cultural heritage.
The Conference was attended by
seven bearers of Bii Biyelgee, who have inherited and preserved the traditional
forms and styles of the Bayad, Durvud, Zakhchin, Uriankhai, Torguud, and Khoton
ethnic groups of western Mongolia, along with their apprentices. Among the bearer-participants
were senior biyelgee dancers J. Khumbaa, 84 years old, and T. Tsembel, 82 years
old, and dancers from Tariat, Kharkhiraa, Malchin, and Khovd soums of Uvs
aimag, as well as Mankhan, Bulgan, and Jargalant soums of Khovd aimag.
In 2009, Mongol Biyelgee-Mongolian Traditional Folk Dance, which is inherited among the Bayad, Durvud, Zakhchin, Uriankhai, Torguud, and Khoton peoples of western Mongolia, on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. At that time, there were fewer than 20 bearers of this heritage, however, the number of the bearers increased to 417 by 2024.
