Many of these organizations were involved in the making and distribution of the Mujaan DVD. If you're curious to learn more about Mongolia, these are some of the world's foremost experts.
Since 1998 CRTP has been working with local communities to restore culturally important structures, and promoting responsible tourism through "volunteer vacations". Their innovative programs to restore Buddhist temples in Nepal and Mongolia allow people from any background and any skill level to join the local communities in their restoration efforts.
In the summer of 2003 producer Chris McKee stayed with the Mongolian temple restoration crew while he was recording footage for Mujaan. Sukhbaatar, the craftsman in Mujaan, spent the summer of 2004 with CRTP showing their volunteers how to build a gir.
The Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads (CSEN) was established to preserve archaeological remains and to promote ethnographic research on the nomadic (and sedentary) cultures who lived or are currently living in the vast steppe lands that stretch from southern Russia through Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, western Mongolia, and northern China. Although the contemporary nomads are limited to specific regions, the steppes as a whole are extremely rich in archaeological remains dating from 4,000 B.C. and earlier.
CSEN's Director, Jeannine Davis-Kimball, served as an advisor to Chris McKee as he prepared to make Mujaan and provided commentary on the finished DVD.
The Mongolia Society was founded in late 1961 as a private, non-profit, non-political organization interested in promoting and furthering the study of Mongolia, its history, language, and culture. The aims of the Society are exclusively scholarly, educational, and charitable.
www.indiana.edu/~mongsoc/index.htm
Mongolia Travel Agency
http://www.voyagemongolie.com
Information, advice and language classes for your Mongolian adventure.
Friends of Mongolia is an incorporated nonprofit organization conducting operations in both Mongolia and the United States. It is an affilliate of the National Peace Corps Association and its membership includes both Americans and Mongolians. It is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, and developmental purposes. Friends of Mongolia exists to develop partnerships with the people of Mongolia in furtherance of cultural exchange and human development.
FOM was founded by members of the Peace Corps who were in Mongolia with Chris McKee from 1996 to 1998.
The Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit was founded in 1986 at Cambridge University
in the UK to promote research and teaching relating to the region on an inter-disciplinary
basis to all those concerned with its understanding. It is currently one of
the very few research-oriented forums in the world in which scholars can address
the contemporary and historical problems of the region. The unit is also concerned
with how 'Inner Asia' as an object of study is being reconfigured, from the
late-19th Century discourse of orientalism to contemporary critical studies
of economic and cultural transformations.
Former MIASU Director Caroline Humphrey provided one of the positive reviews on the Mujaan Purchasing page. She founded the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit together with Urgunge Onon, and she was the Director until 2001. She is a Professor of Asian Anthropology at Cambridge University, a fellow of the British Academy, and a fellow of King's College. She has worked mainly in Inner Mongolia on the politics of the landscape and in Russia on diverse themes of post-socialist social and economic transformations. She is Co-editor of the journal Inner Asia and an editor of the Inner Asia Monograph series. She has written and edited several books and numerous articles.
The Tibetan Museum Society is a league of concerned international citizens
who wish to support the exhibition of Asian art from ancient Mongolia and the
Greater Himalayan Region. The Society's two primary focuses are to provide
financial support to museums with Buddhist cultural exhibits and to protect
sacred Buddhist shrines against the removal of artifacts without consent.
www.tibetan-museum-society.org
The
Story of the Weeping Camel is about a family of Mongolian nomads in the Gobi
desert trying to convince a mother camel to accept her albino baby so it doesn't
starve to death. Shot in a cinema verité style with a real family and
camels, viewers learn a lot about what life is truly like in the desert. The
film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2005. And the
director, Byambsuren, was one of Chris McKee's students when he taught English
for the Peace Corps in Mongolia.
www.thinkfilmcompany.com/weepingcamel
Baraka was one of the inspirations for Mujaan. The Spirit of Baraka
is a reference site for films like it and Koyaanisqatsi. "Baraka" is an
ancient Sufi word, which can be translated as "a blessing," or "the breath
or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds." For many
people Baraka is the definitive film in this style. Breathtaking shots
from around the world show the beauty and destruction of nature and man.
The National Peace Corps Association is the non-profit organization of returned
Peace Corps volunteers, former staff and friends committed to fostering peace
through service, education and advocacy. Chris McKee is the newsletter editor
for the Los Angeles regional group. Mujaan premiered at the NPCA annual conference
in August of 2004. He gratefully acknowledges all the returned Peace Corps
groups that have helped to promote screenings around the country since then.
Chris McKee taught English for the Peace Corps in Mongolia from 1996 to 1998.
It was one of the most powerful experiences of his life. There he learned about
Mongolian culture and history, learned the language, and met his brilliant
assistant producer/director Badma Sakhois. Since John F Kennedy established
it in 1961, over 178,000 people have served in the Peace Corps all around the
world. Its three goals are to help people in interested countries learn from
trained Americans, promote a better understanding of American culture abroad,
and to educate Americans back home about other cultures. Mujaan is Chris McKee's
fulfillment of the third goal. Every month over a thousand people watch Mujaan at film festivals, schools, academic conferences and on their televisions around
the world.
Mongolian Cultural Groups in America
There are several Mongolian organizations in America that preserve and share
their culture. Contact them if you're curious to meet Mongolians near you.
www.intermongol.net
-in Colorado
www.arjiagegeen.com/foundation.html
-in the San Francisco Bay Area
Sign up for an exciting 2 week trip down the Silk Road into Kyrgyzstan, working
alongside master yurt makers. You will learn this ancient art near Lake Issy-kul,
and one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Asia, the Tien Shien.
Yurt Manufacturers
Outside of Mongolia the homes Asian nomads live in are called "yurts." Interested
in buying one? Ask one of these companies:
www.woodlandyurts.co.uk
www.yurts.com
www.yurtco.com
www.yurtworks.com
www.nomadshelter.com
www.yurts.fsnet.co.uk
site.yurtworks.com.au
www.yurts-r-us.com
www.albioncanvas.co.uk
www.coloradoyurt.com
www.rainieryurts.com
www.redskyshelters.com
www.yurtpeople.com
www.yurtliving.com
www.yurtworks.co.uk
www.mongolyurt.com
