The Honolulu Academy of Arts was buzzing on Sunday afternoon, when I finally made it to see The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, which had been there since February but held over til this weekend.
I was lucky enough to catch part of a guided tour of the exhibit, which allowed me more insight than I would have on my own. A lot of the pieces were intricately embroidered and appliqued thangka with symbol-ladden scenes from the life of important Buddhist teachers and deities.
There were also centuries old metal-cast sculptures and some ancient Buddhist ritual items including a phurba and a vajra, pictured, which I recognized because M left them here, his spiritual practice no longer a priority. This NY Times article explains how this one-of-a-kind collection was put together, the slideshow is good, too.
The exhibition was presided over by a small group of Bhutanese monks, who also lead prayers in another area of the museum called the Altar Room. The smell of incense and drone of chanting was enveloping even outside the doors, where shoes were piled. Beatific people were seated on cushions around the room in various meditation positions, throwing rice and plumeria blossoms up and into the center of the room either at certain times in the chant, or maybe just following along when the monks did it, which is what I was doing. Aping such earnest ritual made me uncomfortable.
Imagine a Catholic mass being conducted in a museum, and some people are there to pray for their eternal souls and others there to take pictures and genuflect even tho they don’t know why. It’s odd. And clearly I was among believers. The middle-aged, haole man next to me touched his head to the ground before he sat down and after the ceremony, a dark-haired woman centered herself in front of the intricate altar and did a series of kneeling then rising motions, head bowed, her hands in prayer position. I retreated from the room, admiring the surfboard in the corner painted with Bhutanese designs.
The night before I went to the exhibit I watched this amazing movie, Travellers and Magicians (2004) directed by Khyentse Norbu. Apparently it’s the first feature film ever made in Bhutan. This trailer doesn’t do it justice, the voiceover is corny, but the movie is lush and beautiful and funny; simple and layered with meaning. The “Making of” and other extras on the DVD are really great, too.
The exhibit is on the move now, but I can’t find where I saw that; I believe it goes to San Francisco and New York City over the next year or two. Well worth it.