Photos: Sacred Art of Bhutan at the Honolulu Academy.

Thangka paintings from Bhutan.

Photos from the opening of The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, which opens today. The show was so moving that it discouraged us from taking our usual clandestine photos. We did, however, manage to blow $80 on incense, in what will no doubt be a vain attempt to take a little bit of Bhutanese compassion back to the mainland.

Click on images to see ‘em large. Money shots (and strap-ons) after the jump.

The Bhutanese black hat dance, performed at the opening ceremony for the Bhutan exhibit at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. This performance involved amazing costumes and lots of twirling set to music that sounded like a spiritual version of car alarms going off.


The Princess of Bhutan, in pink, watches the show with monks and Honolulu Academy director Steve Little.

The performance began with monks, in masks, clowning around with 18″ long red lacquered penises and shoving them into people’s faces and crotches. Thankfully, there was no spanking involved.

Not all art industry acolytes feel the compulsion to wear black.

Party time in the Academy courtyard.

Honlulu academy associate director Susan Sayre Batton with 39 Hotel curator Trisha Lagaso-Goldberg.

Monks, chillin’.

Not part of the show, but wildly entertaining nonetheless: A woman and her three dogs—all dressed in identical Scooby Doo print. The little one on the left was obliging its owner, who insisted on asking it to sit up and shake hands. The one on the right, staring at the camera, kept running around in circles, in bizarre imitation of the monks’ black hat dance. The whole display was better than anything we’ve seen on the Dog Whisperer.

The NYT has the story and a slideshow.

Posted by San Suzie.