Gankhuugiin Purevbat was a well-known figure in Mongolia, but I don’t think many saw him in the light I wish to present him in here. Publicly respected as the Burhanchi Lama, the monk-creator of gods, Purevbat was a fixture at religious ceremonies or cultural events like art exhibitions. His calm presence was so familiar and taken for granted that his death, at the age of fifty-nine, came as a shock. It’s more important than ever to discuss his legacy in a way that best suits the spirit of his time—to recognise Purevbat, a prodigious Mongolian artist, as a decoloniser.

Purevbat was born in 1965, the seventh of fifteen siblings, to a nomadic family about 100 kilometres north of the capital of Ulaanbaatar. When he spoke of his childhood, he talked about the folk tales his grandfather raised him on. In an age predating widely accessible television networks and social media, Purevbat entertained by gathering all the children in the neighbourhood and retelling the stories he heard at home. This prominence of Mongolian folklore in his upbringing nurtured his creative mind and shaped his future.

• Tags: Gankhuugiin Purevbat, Issue 37, Mongolia, Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva