An exhibition titled «Nangin Yahan» («Sacred Bone») has opened at the Ts. S. Sampilov Art Museum, showcasing works by the People’s Artist of Buryatia, Bato-Munko Chimitov, alongside those of a new generation of bone carvers. The master is joined by his students, graduates, and current students from the P. I. Tchaikovsky College of Arts in presenting their creations.

For decades, Chimitov has been the only professional master of artistic bone carving in the republic. He has been practising this craft for approximately 45 years. Bone offers virtually no margin for error—damaged material cannot be restored, so the work demands utmost precision and concentration.

Artistic bone carving has been known to the Buryats since ancient times; however, for a long period, it remained primarily a craft associated with everyday items. There were numerous attempts to transform it into an independent branch of professional art, but it truly gained momentum in the 1970s when Chimitov began his work in Ulan-Ude.

The story of the master is gradually becoming the story of a school. The speciality «Artistic Bone Carving» was introduced at the P. I. Tchaikovsky College of Arts in 2017, and two years ago, a workshop was opened here, with Chimitov invited to teach.

Over the years, Chimitov has become one of the most prominent masters of bone carving art in Buryatia. In 2019, he was awarded the Grand Prix at the «Tale on the Mammoth Tusk» festival in Yakutsk and received a first-degree diploma at the International Festival of «Bone Carving Art of the Peoples of the World» in Magadan. In 2026, he became a laureate of the «Altargana» in the category of artistic bone processing. His works are held in museum collections in Buryatia, Moscow, Irkutsk, and Yakutsk. In Chimitov’s works, tradition exists not as an ethnographic quotation. The artist draws upon the images of Geser, the White Elder, the goddess Yanzhima, and the Buddhist and epic culture of the peoples of Southern Siberia. Among his creations are miniature sculptures, jewellery, boxes, decorative knives, and chess sets, many crafted from mammoth ivory. These works were previously showcased at the artist’s solo exhibition at the State Museum of Oriental Art. The current exhibition perhaps speaks more accurately of the master’s work than any award. For the first time, the works of Chimitov himself are displayed alongside those of his students, who learned to wield the chisel under his guidance. The only bone carver in Buryatia is gradually ceasing to be the sole practitioner, and this rare art form is finding continuity not only in museum collections.