JAVKHLAN ARIUNBOLD & JÖRG KRATZ — TREES AND SEVEN SUNS

In the organizer's words:

Duration: 07.08. - 04.09.2025

Opening: 07.08.2025, 7 pm

'Trees and Seven Suns' is about the order of the world.

A Mongolian fairy tale tells of the early days of the world, in which seven suns turn the earth into a hot wasteland. A hero shoots six of the suns with his arrows, missing the seventh. In this way, he restores order and balance to the earth and, because the remaining sun hides behind a mountain from the hero at night, the alternation of day and night occurs.

The idea of the world tree as a symbol for the architecture of the world stands for the cosmic transition from chaos to order. In shamanism, it represents the connection to the spirit world. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge in Judaism and Christianity have their predecessors in the Celtic tree of life and the Nordic Yggdrasil. Many cultures believe that trees are the dwelling place of spirits. They always establish a connection between the earth and the sky, symbolize life and renewal and act as mediators between the worlds.

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