Dulaankhaan

Boldbaatar runs one of the three remaining traditional bow and arrow (num sum) workshops in Mongolia. Custom-designed and hand-created, he uses old working methods to manipulate a mixture of traditional and modern materials. Admittedly, I felt a twinge of disappointment when my eye wandered from the beautiful carved horn onto the green nylon rope. Was this development of combining natural and synthetic materials a decision made to save on time and cost, or was it to improve performance?

There is no denying that despite the addition of the synthetic, these num sums hold the mystic of an old Mongolian craft. I just hope that the modern world does not dilute too much of that magic.