The first Mongolian poetry book in English translation to be published in the US after The End of the Dark Era – it’s no surprise it’s from Phoneme.
Tseveendorjin Oidov, like so many artists in the Soviet sphere of influence, got used to writing, and painting, ‘for the desk drawer’ alone, but now his art and poetry are published together in this spare, stark and compact volume. Oidov draws on modernist influences, particularly Kandinsky, and his native nomadic, shamanic and Buddhist traditions to create a unique mix where less is far more than it first seems. As he writes in the afterword:
These pieces represent the secret power of wisdom. Now and in the future they will exist as notes to hidden feelings.
From every physical form in the world comes an empty living point of gold. A person awakens to this point of gold through magic…
Here’s a taste of Oidov’s spellbinding, with Simon Wickhamsmith’s translations, from my copy of the book.
Give them space.
And time.
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