Chunnel Vision

“WHY IS everyone going to Bhutan?” asked the New York Times, rather cheekily, in 2005.

Well, they weren’t then,  and they aren’t now. Thanks to its strictly regulated tourist industry, this small, insular kingdom wedged between China and India is probably the most alluring country you can’t afford to visit.

All the more reason to check out the  Musée Guimet’s current exhibition, “In the land of the Dragon“.

It comes at a time when Bhutan itself is becoming more westernized. There are still no traffic lights in the capital, but phones and televisions – banned until 1999 – are now making inroads. It’s still the only country in the world that dares to measure its success according to GNH (Gross National Happiness)* rather than GNP – and on the whole, it scores higher than most. Yet the country is also on the cusp of change, about to take its first tentative steps into democracy.

Ravishing photos and video footage (alas, no English commentary) open the expo before revealing Bhutan’s treasure… mystical silk mandalas intended to promote meditation on the way to the calm void at the heart of Buddhism; exquisitely-wrought gold-leaf bronzes of the gods, dating back centuries.

A privileged view, indeed. These national treasures are on show in France for the first time, and even in Bhutan, they are only brought out for special temple festivals. The Bhutanese government hopes that unveiling them will allow Westerners to gain a better appreciation of the country’s peaceful Buddhist heritage. Perhaps so – and its brilliant colours and movement will haunt you, too.

* French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has also expressed his interest in Gross National Happiness.

• Running until 10 January, 2010, In the Land of the Dragons: Sacred Arts of Bhutan is at the Musée Guimet (pictured, right) France’s  national museum of Asian Arts.