KENSAKU SEKI 

GOKAB

Bhutan

Now in Bhutan, the unemployment rate is high and the number of young people with a sense of unease about 

their future is rapidly increasing. Hip-hop is prevalent among such young people. In Bhutan; a conservative 

Buddhist country, there is not much tolerance of new cultures. However, they are seeking an expression of their 

existence through Hip-hop in the midst of fundamental dissatisfaction with society.

I worked for three years as a lower secondary school teacher in Bhutan and at the time I thought about the students' future.

Until I went to Bhutan, the only impression I had was that is was "a country of happiness". In reality there were not only 

warm hearted people but also an uneasy feeling about the future. I saw people living through the difficulties of life.

I, myself was one who, like them, felt anxiety and irritation. While taking pictures, I began to understand how Bhutan's 

Hip-hoppers were trying to find hope from the darkness. I sympathized deeply with those thoughts.

"GOKAB" is the Bhutanese word for “chance”. 

“We’ve got talent and passion, but no chance to show it. We just want a chance”.

Looking for an existence through Hip-hop and trying to grasp the little opportunities they have resonates with how 

I try to grab a deeper message through my photography. This work is a story of hope, woven through the graffiti drawn 

by the subjects through the picture that I have taken.

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