Trees and Seven Suns: Javkhlan Ariunbold & Jörg Kratz

‚Trees and Seven Suns‘ is about the order of the world: A Mongolian tale speaks of the early days of the world, when seven suns transformed the earth into a torrid wasteland. A hero shoots six of the suns with his arrows, missing the seventh. Thus he restores order and balance on earth. As the remaining sun hides from the hero behind a mountain at night, the alternation of day and night occurs. The concept of the world tree as a symbol of the architecture of the world represents the cosmic transition from chaos to order. In Shamanism it establishes a connection to the spirit world. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge in Judaism and Christianity have their precursors in the Celtic tree of life and the Nordic Yggdrasil, respectively. Trees are considered the dwelling place of spirits in the folk beliefs of many cultures. They always establish a connection between earth and heaven, symbolize life and renewal, and function as mediators between the worlds.

Javkhlan Ariunbold  was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 1990. After studying at Kunstakademie Münster, she completed her postgraduate studies at Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne in 2024. Jörg Kratz was born in Haan in 1987 and studied at Kunstakademie Münster. Both live and work in Cologne. Since 2017, they have been creating collaborative works and exhibitions that interweave concepts from Central Asia with Western approaches, reflecting on the connections between perception, memory, and the interaction with nature, but also meditating on the secret influence of natural forces and the role of humans within them.