Bhutanese Artist Pem Lham Receives 2026 Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize

Bhutanese artist Pem Lham has received the 2026 Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize, a USD 30,000 international award supporting contemporary Himalayan art, presented by Her Majesty Queen Jetsun at VAST Bhutan.

Bhutanese contemporary artist Pem Lham has received the 2026 Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize, one of the most significant international awards supporting contemporary artistic practice connected to the Himalayan region.

Her Majesty Queen Jetsun presented the award to Pem Lham at a ceremony held at VAST Bhutan in Thimphu on 11 September 2026.

The annual prize carries an unrestricted cash award of USD 30,000. Established in 2024, it recognises artists and collectives whose work contributes to creative and critically relevant conversations between Himalayan artistic traditions and contemporary life. The award acknowledges an artist's existing contribution while providing financial support for future work. Recipients are selected through a closed process involving experts in Himalayan art and Rubin Museum staff.

Keeping tradition alive through new expression

At the ceremony, Her Majesty thanked the Rubin Museum for its work in bringing the art and cultures of the Himalayan region to wider audiences and for creating greater recognition for contemporary Himalayan artists.

Her Majesty also reflected on Bhutan's own relationship with art, where artistic practice is closely connected with architecture, textiles, spiritual traditions and everyday life.

“In Bhutan, we are incredibly fortunate to have inherited such a rich artistic tradition. Art has always been part of how we live, through our architecture, our textiles, our spiritual traditions, and so much of our everyday life. Preserving and passing that heritage from one generation to the next is enormously important.”

Her Majesty highlighted the importance of allowing artists to experiment within these traditions.

“At the same time, for a tradition to remain alive, there must also be space for curiosity, experimentation and new expression. And this is where VAST has played such an important role, giving Bhutanese artists the space to explore, develop their own voices, and find new ways of expressing themselves,” Her Majesty said.

“I hope our artists never feel that they have to choose between being contemporary and being Bhutanese. I believe some of the most interesting work can emerge precisely where the two meet, where we can remain rooted in who we are while finding new ways to tell our stories to the world.”

From a private collection to the Rubin Museum

The story of the Rubin Museum began decades before the creation of the Himalayan Art Prize.

American collectors and philanthropists Shelley Frost Rubin and Donald Rubin began collecting Himalayan art in the mid-1970s. According to the museum, their interest began after they noticed a thangka painting depicting White Tara in the window of an art gallery. They purchased the work, later returned for another thangka, and continued building their collection over the following decades.

As the collection grew, the Rubins became increasingly interested in preserving the works and making Himalayan art accessible to a wider public. In 1998, they purchased a building in the Chelsea neighbourhood of New York City to house the collection.

After six years of planning, the Rubin Museum of Art opened in 2004. The museum began with a gift of more than 1,000 objects from the Rubins' personal collection and developed into an institution dedicated to art from the Himalayas and culturally connected regions. Its collection has since grown to nearly 4,000 objects spanning more than 1,500 years, including works connected with Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, northern India, Mongolia and China.

For two decades, the New York museum presented exhibitions, educational programmes, talks and research focused on Himalayan art and culture.

In October 2024, the Rubin closed its permanent New York building and shifted to a global museum model. Rather than operating primarily from one physical location, it now works through travelling exhibitions, partnerships, collection loans, research, educational projects, grants and digital programmes around the world.

How the Himalayan Art Prize began

The Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize was launched in 2024 during this transition.

The museum established the award to provide direct support to living artists and collectives whose practices connect Himalayan artistic traditions with contemporary ideas and experiences. At USD 30,000, the Rubin describes it as the largest international unrestricted cash award dedicated to contemporary artistic practices related to the Himalayan region.

Tenzin Gyurmey Dorjee, a Tibetan artist based in Himachal Pradesh, India, became the inaugural recipient in 2024. Khadhok, a Tibetan artists' collective, received the prize in 2025. Pem Lham is the third recipient.

The prize forms part of the Rubin's broader effort to support contemporary artists, researchers and scholars working with Himalayan art and culture. This includes annual grants, commissions, exhibitions, educational initiatives and international collaborations.

Pem Lham and contemporary Bhutanese art

Pem Lham is a Bhutanese visual artist whose practice examines folklore, gender, identity, memory and lived experience.

Working primarily through painting and mixed media, she often draws from Bhutanese cultural narratives while examining them through contemporary perspectives. One recurring figure in her work is Molay, a female spirit associated with Bhutanese mask dance traditions. Pem reinterprets the figure to consider questions of womanhood, power, identity and belonging.

Pem has been associated with VAST Bhutan for more than 16 years. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Beaconhouse National University in Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has been shown in Bhutan and internationally, including exhibitions in Nepal, India, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Her first solo exhibition, Molay Moley, was presented by VAST Bhutan in Thimphu in 2025.

For Bhutan, her recognition through the Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize also draws attention to the country's developing contemporary art community. Bhutan's traditional artistic heritage remains an important foundation, while organisations such as VAST Bhutan have created spaces in which younger artists can experiment with new materials, subjects and forms of expression.

The award places Pem's work within a wider Himalayan and international contemporary art conversation, while allowing it to remain grounded in the cultural experiences and questions that have shaped her practice.

The award ceremony was jointly organised by VAST Bhutan and the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art.

VAST Bhutan is a non-profit civil society organisation that promotes contemporary art and provides opportunities and mentorship for young Bhutanese artists. The Rubin Museum today operates as a global institution dedicated to presenting Himalayan art, supporting scholarship and artists, and expanding public understanding of the region's artistic traditions and contemporary practices.

Bhutan revitalises its museums

Bhutan is also investing in the future of its museums through the Building Fund for the Museums of Bhutan, a global fundraising initiative led by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The campaign aims to raise funds to upgrade heritage sites and create new outdoor cultural spaces at the National Museum in Paro, the Royal Heritage Museum in Trongsa, and Ta-Dzong in Trashigang.

The project is part of a broader effort to rethink museums as active cultural and community spaces, rather than places focused only on displaying collections. The proposed venues are intended to support cultural events, educational programmes, international gatherings and other public activities, while strengthening the conservation and presentation of Bhutan's heritage.

You can contribute directly through the Building Fund for the Museums of Bhutan campaign.