IN THE FIRST FOUR DAYS OF MARCH EVERY YEAR, the trails leading to Lake Khövsgöl in the remote northern reaches of Mongolia witness a flurry of human activity. Hundreds of people arrive for the local Ice Festival, which has been held anually for the last 15 years. Lake Khövsgöl lies about 650 kilometres west of Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital. Nighttime temperatures in March drop below minus-twenty degrees Celsius, and the lake freezes over. During the day, revellers enjoy tug-o-war matches, horse-drawn sleigh rides and other diversions on the ice.
The photographer Chiara Goia first visited Mongolia in the summer of 2008. She said she has “always felt a strong draw” to the country, and was “attracted by the nomadic life.” The families she stayed with that summer took her to the lake, and shared stories about the festival. She vowed to visit it again in winter, and a few years later she did. On the way, “I found kilometres of road that were not there in 2008,” she said.
Mongolia has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, thanks mainly to a rapidly expanding mining industry. Young people are joining mining camps and giving up old occupations such as herding, and cities are encroaching upon the steppe. Goia’s photographs document this shift, and also capture enduring images of traditional life. She called her experiences in the country “incredible—beautiful and tough at the same time.”
COMMENT