Monthly Photos　October 2016

Photos taken by ILCAA staff and associates are posted here once a month; most of them are taken during their field research in Asia and Africa.

(The copyright belongs to the photographers.)

The Revolutionary vs. the Legend

This is a photo of “Sükhbaatar Square,” the center of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. At the center of the square, the statue of Sükhbaatar, one of the leaders of Mongolia’s 1921 revolution, stands and watches the government palace. On the other hand, the statue of Chinggis Khan, the great emperor, sits in front of the government palace. It seems as if these two heroes face each other eternally.

After democratization, people in Mongolia began to use “Chinggis Khan” to name various places or commodities such as a vodka, a hotel, and the international airport. Finally, in July 2013, they renamed the square Chinggis Khan Square. However, descendants of Sükhbaatar filed a suit for an injunction against using the name, winning a court victory in August 2016.

AUG 2016
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Photograph by Yasuhiro YAMAKOSHI

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