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The nomadic dignity of the Mongolian communities
The ASIA 2025 calendar is dedicated to the wisdom of the nomadic communities of Mongolia, to their life in close contact with nature and the ancestors.
Wide horizons dappled with the green of the grass, the ochre of the earth, the piercing blue of the sky.
Eagles held up by strong arms and groups of people rising from immense spaces, looking far ahead, walking close to proud horses with which they will faithfully cross the steppe.
This is what we see in the images by Alberto Giuliani, journalist, writer and photographer, who this year has given us his photographs taken in August 2024 in the Altai region, where ASIA has developed two different projects in recent months.
But there is much more we can feel by letting our gaze rest on these images: we can see beyond, perceive the deep and subtle sensations held by these places and by the communities that inhabit them.
The photos are arranged in the pages according to the diptych formula: a photo with a human figure and beside it a photo of the same scenario without the human being. A double bond between fullness and emptiness, between man and nature, between person and animal, immense expanses filled with the powerful presence of the elements, of the spirit of nature and of the ancestors, further presences that permeate the surrounding landscape.
A calendar with a strong visual and symbolic impact, paying homage to the nomadic communities and to the land that welcomes them: Mongolia, a way to celebrate its heritage of ancient, tenacious and fascinating wisdom.
The introductory words to the calendar, written by Giuliani, help us to immerse ourselves in this atmosphere and to understand the reach of nomadic culture in today’s world.
DISCOVER THE ASIA 2025 CALENDAR
“There are two things I admire about the Mongolian nomads.
The first is the respect they show towards every living being. Men, women or animals, in their scale of values, have equal importance and equal dignity.
When they come upon a river, they bend over the bank and, wetting their head three times, they thank nature. And if they come across a family that is building a ger or moving hay for the animals, they dismount and lend a hand. It is with an admirable sense of brotherhood that the nomads face the journey.
This brings me to the second thing I love: their going without any destination other than life itself. They move carrying with them everything that counts. The family, the home, the animals, and in caravan, with slow steps, they follow paths that exist only in their mind and in that of their ancestors.
Behind them they leave the crushed and yellowed grass on which they had pitched the tent. In the centre, where the stove burned for a few weeks, a puddle of ash remains. Just long enough for the wind to carry it up into the sky and for the first winter snow to cover every trace. By then life will already have been reborn elsewhere.
I believe that if each of us made their own even a little of the lightness with which these nomads live, the entire Planet would feel better”.
Alberto Giuliani
Alberto Giuliani (Pesaro, 8 September 1975) is an Italian photographer and journalist, known in particular for his work on the Italian mafias and on healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. He is the author of the book Gli immortali – storie dal mondo che verrà (Il Saggiatore), a journey into the future of humanity, and Next Love – an unexpected journey into the nature of love (Il Saggiatore)
Discover the projects ASIA carried out in Mongolia in 2024:
funded by the Italian Buddhist Union
funded by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano
Pubblicato il
06/12/2024
