Herron's expert on Mongolian art receives the Order of the Red Banner of Labour

By: Christiane Wisehart

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Art history professor Uranchimeg Tsultem smiles while holding an art book open in the stacks at Herron's art library — Uranchimeg Tsultem, associate professor of art history and the Edgar and Dorothy Fehnel Chair in International Studies Image by Liz Kaye

Uranchimeg Tsultem, an associate professor of art history and the Edgar and Dorothy Fehnel Chair in International Studies at Herron School of Art and Design, was recently presented with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, one of the Mongolian government’s highest honors.

Ankhbayar Ganbold, a counselor at the Embassy of Mongolia, said that the award “…is a testament to [Tsultem’s] exceptional contributions to the field of art and design, particularly her many years of commitment to promoting Mongolian studies on an international level.”

Tsultem’s devotion to championing Mongolian art began early in her academic and professional career. Inspired in part by her father, the celebrated Mongolian artist Nyam-Osoryn Tsultem, she shifted her focus away from European to Mongolian and Buddhist art while earning her undergraduate and master’s degrees. She decided to pursue a Ph.D. after working as a translator for the renowned scholar of Chinese art Patricia Berger during a research trip in Mongolia. Berger’s impressive scholarship inspired Tsultem—who had at that point already established a successful career as a curator—to switch professional paths. The Fulbright scholarship she won in 2002 funded her doctorate studies at the University of California at Berkeley, marking the first of many awards she would receive.

In recent years, her list of honors includes an Indiana University Presidential Award in Arts and Humanities (2022-2024), a research fellowship from the Institute of Arts and Humanities at IU Indianapolis (2020, 2022), a Robert Ho Foundation Collaborative Research Award from the American Council of Learned Societies (2014-2016), and the Library of Congress’ John Kluge Fellowship (2013).

Herron faculty and students enjoyed the opportunity to connect with visiting artist Tuguldur Yondonjamts during the residency Tsultem coordinated in 2021. The Mongolian artist's visit culminated in the exhibition *Separated Geography from a Poem*.

Awards like these and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour recognize Tsultem’s scholarship and curatorial work as critical contributions to the field of Asian art history, a field dominated by Chinese, Japanese, and Indian art. Encouraging museum curators and gallery owners to recognize the value of art from a little-known country like Mongolia has been an uphill battle, Tsultem says. Major exhibitions that focus on Mongolian art are few and far between in the United States, so Tsultem sees it as her mission to ensure that artists from Mongolia receive the attention they deserve through both her academic career and in her work as a curator.

Her recent shows include Mongol Zurag: The Art of Resistance at the 2024 Venice Biennale and Mongol Zurag: The Art of Everyday at SAPAR Contemporary in New York. The Galleries at Herron also benefit from Tsultem’s tireless efforts to promote Mongolian art with shows like Separated Geography from a Poem, an exhibition of Mongolian artist Tuguldur Yondonjamts’ work.

Tsultem doesn’t plan to rest on her many laurels and looks forward to the completion of her monograph on contemporary art. She is also planning an upcoming exhibition of Mongolian artists at Herron, ensuring that she continues to fulfill her life-long goal to give Mongolian artists “as much of a voice as I can.”

Herron School of Art + Design

Herron's expert on Mongolian art receives the Order of the Red Banner of Labour

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