The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan February 26 - May 23   Galleries 27 & 28 Special opening for HAA members February 24 Website: www.honoluluacademy.org/dragonsgift
Buddha Vajrasattva 16th century, Dongkarla Kunzang Choling, Paro

To most outsiders, Bhutan is a land of mystery. Known in Dzongkha, the official language of Bhutan, as Druk Yul (Land of the Thunder Dragon), Bhutan is situated in the Himalayas, east of Nepal and west of Myanmar (Burma), between Tibet and the Indian state of Assam. On its northern border, Bhutan is flanked by some of the highest mountains in the world.

Five years in the making, the landmark exhibition The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan focuses on the Himalayan kingdom’s Buddhist art and culture. The exhibition explores Bhutan’s cosmology and worldview through the window of its sacred visual arts and ritual dance (Cham), using Buddhism and the local pre-Buddhist religion (which includes elements of animism and shamanism), as lenses through which to explore Bhutanese culture.

The exhibition, coordinated by Guest Curator Terese Tse Bartholomew (Curator of Himalayan Art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco) and Assistant Exhibition Curator John Johnston, includes more than 100 works of art, the vast majority of which have never been seen before outside of Bhutan. Shown here are thankas (paintings), gilt bronze sculptures, textiles, and ritual objects, all made for use in a Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhist context. These works of sacred art range in date from the 7th through 19th centuries A.D.

Bodhisattva Manjushri, 18th century Ink and mineral colors on cotton Height: 201 x Width: 100 cm Trashigang Gönpa, Thimphu (Cat. no. 20)	Monks of Trashigang Goempa assisting the exhibition team in the examination of thangkas, 2006

The Dragon’s Gift introduces such key Buddhist masters in Bhutan’s history as Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche, 8th century, who first brought Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan), Pema Lingpa (1450–1521, a famous “Treasure Revealer”), Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529, the “Divine Madman”), and Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594–1651, the unifier of Bhutan), and such key religious figures as Buddhas, bodhisattvas (including the powerful female deities Tara and Prajnaparamita), and wrathful deities (including Mahakala and Yamantaka).

Organized by the Honolulu Academy of Arts in conjunction with the Department of Culture, a branch of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of the Royal Government of Bhutan, the exhibition coincides with the end of the lunar year marking the 100th anniversary of the Royal Wangchuck Dynasty. The exhibition’s timing is significant as it opens in 2008, during which Bhutan will transform itself into a democratically elected constitutional monarchy.

Bhutan has many notable distinctions. First, it is the only existing Vajrayana Buddhist kingdom in the world. Second, it is one of the few countries in Asia that was never colonized. Third, in the face of enormous pressures of globalization, Bhutan has successfully maintained its ancient culture, arts, and religious lineages intact. Bhutan is also unique for its official government policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), in stark contrast to the Gross National Product (GNP) that preoccupies so many other countries. In this official focus on human beings’ happiness, as opposed to their productivity or monetary wealth, Bhutan stands apart from the rest of the world, and in so doing has an important global message in an age of increasing materialism.

As part of the exhibition project, the Academy has made two significant gifts to Bhutan. The first has involved conservation of works of art, and the second has involved preservation of Bhutan’s rare sacred dance (Cham) traditions.

Under the direction of Ephraim (Eddie) Jose, the Academy’s Conservator of Asian Paintings, and Mark Fenn, Objects Conservator at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Academy has conserved all the works in the exhibition. In addition, over a three-year period, Jose and Fenn have trained a group of 40 Bhutanese monks and other individuals responsible for the care of cultural properties in the newest and most efficient methods for storing and conserving works of ancient art.

In a major innovation, the exhibition explores the ancient ritual Buddhist dance and movement tradition known as Cham, a form of danced yoga. The dance documentation project has been conducted by an international team led by Joseph Houseal, Executive Director of Core of Culture, a Chicago-based non-profit organization dedicated to ancient dance preservation. The project has created a high-definition video archive of over three hundred hours of the most important Buddhist dances of Bhutan, some of them endangered. Many of these dances are associated with the ritual calendar of the Bhutan’s Tshechu festivals. The footage was filmed in high-definition video (HDV) by two key cameramen, Gerard Houghton, Core of Culture’s Director of Technology, and Karma Tshering, one of Bhutan’s most renowned filmmakers. Selections of this documentation will be on view in the exhibition, and others are available on a DVD disk that is part of the exhibition catalogue. The archival footage is accompanied by a unique database that documents all of the dances captured by the dance documentation team over a three-year period of original fieldwork in Bhutan. The database and the entire corpus of over three hundred hours of Cham dance footage will be donated by the Academy and Core of Culture to the Royal Government of Bhutan, with a second copy deposited at the Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

Also, as a special feature, The Dragon’s Gift ends with a major work of contemporary art: a photobased installation of the dancers of the Pema Lingpa Cham Lineage in Bhutan, created by Herbert Migdoll, who has been resident artist at the Joffrey Ballet for 29 years.

The exhibition is accompanied by a special introductory video, directed by Amy Christenson, an Emmy award-winning producer for the Public Broadcasting System station WTTW in Chicago.

It is rare that any museum has the opportunity to create an exhibition that documents and explores the arts of a living culture as well preserved and as relatively unknown as Bhutan’s. Indigenous cultures are disappearing at an alarming rate across the globe, and Bhutan’s efforts to preserve its ancient traditions are exemplary. We hope that this effort will result in greater international awareness of Bhutan’s unique cultural heritage, and the rare treasures it has generously agreed to share with the world. We are deeply grateful to the many individuals and organizations, both in and outside Bhutan, who have helped bring this exhibition to realization.
—Stephen Little, Director

This exhibition is organized by the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Department of Culture, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan.

The art conservation, dance preservation, and educational programs of The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan are made possible through the lead support of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation.

  Major support for The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan is provided by the E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Michael and Patricia O’Neill Charitable Fund, Susan Pillsbury, Le Burta G. Atherton, the Freeman Foundation, Druk Airlines (the Royal Bhutan Airlines), Hotels & Resorts of Halekulani, and Japan Airlines. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hiroaki, Elaine & Lawrence Kono Foundation, Marc Benioff, David and Cecilia Lee, Judith Dion Pyle, Charles and Maryanna Stockholm, the Asian Cultural Council, the Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, Pamela Ebsworth, John and Heather Little, and Susan O’Connor.