This Autumn: Yartsa Gunbu and Dolpo at the Songtsen House, Zürich (04/09/2014)

In September and November the Songtsen House is hosting interesting events on the life in Dolpo and the frantic search for the caterpillar fungus Yartsa Gunbu. The series begins on the 26th of September with the documentary film ‘The Only Son’ and an aperitif offered by the Freundeskreis Schweiz-Nepal. Then on the 21st and 26th of November a presentation and a film respectively show the influence of Yartsa Gunbu on the people in Dolpo and the Himalayan region. Our NGO president Marietta Kind will be leading the discussion on the latter event.

On Friday, the 26th of September, the Songtsen House together with the Freundeskreis Schweiz-Nepal show the documentary film ‘The Only Son’ by Simonka de Jong. The filmmaker tells the story of a sister and a brother, who grew up abroad and after years return to their family in Dolpo. The son has to make a difficult decision between family tradition and a life in the West.

On Friday, the 21st of November, Emilia Sulek will talk about ‘The Hunt for the Healing Fungus’. She illustrates the search with photographs and shows how the caterpillar fungus has changed the life of the nomads. Emilia Sulek is a social anthropologist, Mongolia expert and tibetologist and works at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

A week later, on the 28th of November, the documentary film ‘Journey to Yartsa’ by Dipendra Bhandari will be screened. The filmmaker follows the family of Punimaya Bhandari from Rolpa on their journey into the mountains. They are among thousands, who are searching for their luck. Dipendra Bhandari shows the hope and greed, and also, the consequences of the search on the marriage market. Subsequently, our NGO president will lead the discussion.

For further information, see the program of the Songtsen House.

jb