This is an interview with Fulbright Scholar Brandt Miller, discussing his art exhibition 'Beoynd the Blue Sky'. It was filmed for Voice Box, a Mongolian English-language TV show.

'BEYOND THE BLUE SKY'

On July 2nd, 2009 the Exhibition Opening of ‘Beyond the Blue Sky’ was held at the Mongolian National Contemporary Art Gallery.  This multi-media exhibition, created by Fulbright Fellow Brandt Miller, gives face to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities of Mongolia. Consisting of photography, writing and a short film, this body of work brings the underground out.

For the first time in Mongolia’s history, the realities of life for a largely hidden sector of society who daily face discrimination, oppression and persecution will be expressed through art. To ensure the safety of participants, and to also represent the hidden nature of LGBT people’s lives and their invisibility in society, their faces were covered with Mongolian blue scarves, khadag. The use of khadag that traditionally covers the faces of those who have died, also symbolically mirrors the present reality in which many LGBT people feel they are not fully living.

The exhibition was open to the public from July 3-8, 2009.