Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [36]
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HM Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck is the UN Goodwill Ambassador in Bhutan.
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The introduction of education in the 1960s enabled Bhutanese women to become literate and to seek employment outside of both their homes and their local villages. Teaching, the civil service and other office positions provided important opportunities for young, educated Bhutanese women.
However, there are areas in which Bhutanese women are still not equal with their male counterparts. Levels of literacy remain higher among men than women, though this is being tackled by the government through adult learning classes. Although some women have been appointed to higher positions in the government and NGOs, including the first female district court judge appointed in 2003, there do still appear to be barriers preventing educated and able women access to all levels of government. During the first universal suffrage gup (elected village leader) elections in 2002, there were no women candidates in any gewog (the lowest administrative level), and the proportion of women who voted compared to the number eligible to vote was significantly lower than for male voters.
The major women’s organisation in the country is the National Women’s Association of Bhutan. It was established in 1981 and headed by Dasho Dawa Dem, one of the few women to have received the honorific title of Dasho from the king. In 2004 Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women (RENEW), a new NGO for women, was established by HM Ashi Sangay Choeden Wangchuck. RENEW is highly respected and tackles major issues facing contemporary Bhutanese women. In the same year a National Commission on Women and Children was established to promote the rights of women and children.
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More information on RENEW can be found at www.renew.org.bt.
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ARTS
All Bhutanese art, dance, drama, music and even architecture have their roots in Buddhism. The highly distinctive architecture of Bhutan is discussed on Click here. Paintings were traditionally done not for sale, but for specific purposes – though this is slowly changing. Festivals are not quaint reinventions staged for tourists, but are living manifestations of a long tradition and national faith. Almost all representation in art, music and dance is a dramatisation of the Buddha’s teachings about the path to liberation and the constant struggle to overcome the delusions that lead to the cycle of rebirth in samsara. Bhutanese arts are concerned with interpreting values rather than describing facts.
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The non-state-funded Choki Traditional Art School in Kabesa offers free training to young students from poor families. See www.chokischool.com.
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The Artistic Tradition in Bhutan
The development of Buddhist arts and crafts in Bhutan can be traced to the 15th-century terton (discoverer of sacred texts) Pema Lingpa, who was an accomplished painter, metal worker, sculptor and architect. The country’s artistic tradition received a further boost when, in 1680, the fourth desi (secular ruler), Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye (1680–94), opened the School of Bhutanese Arts and Crafts, which has evolved into the National Institute for Zorig Chusum.
Traditional Bhutanese artistry is maintained through the support of all levels of society. The royal family, nobility and clergy continue to provide important patronage. Meanwhile, the common people support the arts because they depend on artisans to provide the wide variety of wooden and metal objects indispensable to typical Bhutanese households and painting, both inside and outside of homes.
Bhutanese art has two main characteristics: it is religious and anonymous. The Bhutanese consider commissioning paintings and statues as pious acts, which gain merit for the jinda (patron). The name of the jinda is sometimes written on the work so that their pious act may be remembered. However, the artist’s name is