For the development of RedHero Atlas, the collaboration with The National Archives of Mongolia has been, and continues to be, fundamental.
RedHero is a name that has its roots in the popular revolution of 1923 partly lead by the hero Sukbaatar who changed the name of the Mongolian capital from Nislel Khuree (during the Manchu domination) to Ulaanbaatar. In fact, the name of the capital contains many aspects speaking of its birth and growth: the revolutionary momentum, the utopias of the rise and fall of the communist regime, as well as the red colour of the mask of Mahakala, the tantric buddhist deity whose face is often represented in the form of a red mask.
Keeping in mind the current development of the city in relation to its history is an essential element in the socio-cultural investigation that the RedHero project seeks to carry out. For these reasons, in the construction of RedHero Atlas, the team searched for and selected images, photographs and archival films that document the city of Ulaanbaatar during different historical moments throughout the twentieth century. RedHero website keeps updating all materials acquired from the National Archives of Mongolia, available as a public resource, as well as an integration of parts of these documents into videos and interviews made by RedHero over the past four years.
