A "Curatorial Odyssey"

Curators Stephen Little (in patterned shirt) and Ephraim Jose, examine two thangkas at the National Library in Thimphu.

The restoration odyssey began in the fall of 1997, when then San Francisco-based Ephraim Jose, a conservator of Asian and Himalayan art, became interested in organizing an exhibition after a 24-hour layover in Bhutan. A few years later he brought his idea to the incoming director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, who soon secured the cooperation of the Bhutanese government.

Photo: Shuzo Uemoto/Honolulu Academy of Arts