by Ayana Ochirova
On April 6, 2024, MIU had a great event, the Art Festival, considered as one of the major events of this semester. “The purpose of the Art Festival is to bring together diverse nationalities and departments in order to harmonize students’ artistry and create a platform for students to cultivate and discover their hidden talents,” says Students Union of MIU, who is in charge of organizing different events for students. This event has already become a local tradition and year after year, students actively come together to showcase their unique talents and cohesiveness in teamwork.
Every year the theme of the festival is different and this year’s theme was y2k style, referring to the nostalgia of the early 2000s. There were competitions in four categories – lip-synching, singing, dancing and special performance. Despite the fact that there were only three teams this year, the spirit of competition was very strong and each team showed its best side and great performances.
The first category of the festival was lip-sync, where students prepared performances with songs from a variety of countries, from Mongolian to American. The most memorable performance according to many audience members was the performance of students from School of Science to the songs of Michael Jackson. After this performance, the judges emphasized the artistry and charisma of the student who performed Michael Jackson.
The next category was vocals, where students performed in duets and bands using a variety of musical instruments. The students from School of International Studies and Communication formed an entire band with vocalists, a guitarist, a drummer and a pianist. The main feature of their performance was that they sang three songs from different countries – Mongolian, Russian, and Korean, thus emphasizing the internationality of our university.
After an hour break, the students gathered again to continue the festival and show their dance performances. All the performances were filled with different meanings and stories, and it was very surprising that even in the simplest of dances students added their creativity.
The final category was a special performance where students showed their acting skills. Each act was filled with emotions, great narratives and suitable outfits that highlighted the talents of the participants.
After all the performances there was a short break where the judges conferred and calculated the scores. I asked a few people from the audience about their impressions of the festival and the answers varied:
“All of the performances were amazing. I didn’t know our university had so many talented people. I’m looking forward to the next art festival,” shared a student of LEI.
“I liked this festival very much. The only downside was that some of the judges spoke in Mongolian and no one translated their speech for the international students. I was really curious what they were talking about,” said an international student.
“It was very interesting. The performances were well designed. I especially liked the dancing part and Michael Jackson’s performance,” shared a student.
When all the scores had been counted, the hosts invited the judges to the stage to announce the results. First, there were awards for winning categories such as “Best Lip-Sync Performance”, “Best Vocal Performance”, “Best Dance Performance” and “Best Special Performance”. The award for “Best Lip-Sync Performance” went to a team from the School of Science. “Best Vocal Performance” went to an international band from SISC. The other two awards went to the team from School of Science. After that there were individual awards such as “Best Lip-Syncer”, “Best Singer”, “Best Dancer” and “Best Actor and Actress”. At the end, the winners of Art Festival 2024 were finally announced. They were the team from School of Science with their unforgettable performances and unrivaled talents.
In summary, the Art Festival 2024 was a testament to the university’s active creative community, demonstrating the depth of talent and creativity of its students. Through this annual festival, MIU continues to nurture talent, promote cultural exchange and foster unity through the universal language of art.