MOVEMENT IN STILLS – A corner of the photo exhibition on Drametse ngacham in Geneva, Switzerland

20 April, 2009 - A photographic exhibition “Drametse Ngacham – The Mask Dance of the Drums from Drametse, Bhutan” will be open to the public from 1 April 2009 for about a month at the La Cite du Temps exhibition gallery in Geneva, Switzerland. Yoshi Shimizu, a freelance photographer, in collaboration with the royal government of Bhutan and UNESCO, undertook the project to make a photographic documentary of the Drametse Ngacham in Drametse, Bhutan, in November 2008.

The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bhutan in Geneva hosted a reception in honour of the photographic exhibition on 7 April 2009 at the La Cite du Temps gallery. The reception was attended by about 120 guests, among whom, gracing the occasion were Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland, ambassadors, friends and well wishers of Bhutan.

H.E. the ambassador Yeshey Dorji, permanent representative of the kingdom of Bhutan in Geneva, Switzerland, in his address to the gathering, provided a brief historical background of the sacred mask dance and its importance to the cultural heritage of the Bhutanese. John Alexander Sutin, the sponsor of the photographic project, also gave a short address explaining his interest in photography and remarked that he was most pleased with the quality of photographs exhibited.