Asian Art Museum — The Dragon’s Gift – Sacred Arts of Bhutan
In this edition of Radio Curious we would like to take you to Bhutan! East of Mount Everest and bordered by India and Tibet, Bhutan is a mystical kingdom considered by many as The Last Shangri-La. We will be visiting “The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan,” an exhibit which is currently displayed at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco until May 10th 2009.
We start in conversation with Therese Bartholomew, the curator of the exhibit who helps us to understand what inspired the exhibit and the trials and tribulations of transporting such valuable religious objects from monasteries at the top of Bhutanese mountains to the city of San Francisco.
Through todays edition we will also visit the exhibit itself and hear some of the ceremonies, meet the monks who have travelled with the exhibit and take a tour with museum docent Henny Tanugjaja.
We spoke with Therese Bartholomew from her home in San Francisco on the March 27, 2009 and began by asking her what makes Bhutan and Bhutanese arts so special?
Therese Bartholomew is the Curator Emeritus of Himalayan Arts at the Asian Art Museum San Francisco the book she recommends is “My Life and Lives, The Story of a Tibetan Incarnation” by Rato Khyongla Nawang Losang
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