EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

Organized by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and enthusiastically received when held in Japan in 1989, “The Land of Gentle Smiles: Special Exhibition of Photographs by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand” opened in Taplow Court, the United Kingdom. The decision was made to hold the exhibition in the UK in part because the country has been a pioneer in the art and culture of photography, and because King Rama V Chulalongkorn the Great, King Bhimibol’s grandfather, stayed at Taplow Court during an official tour of Europe in the late-18th century. Princess Alexandra of the British Royal Family attended the exhibition and conducted its ribbon-cutting ceremony.