Skip to main content

INSPIRATIONALLY YOURS - Textiles from the land of the Peaceful Dragon – Bhutan

A very old article written by me popped up. It was time to review and know more about how the textiles in Bhutan and the Royal Academy of Textiles was doing. The following is the old article. A further update and article, I will post a bit later.

Image courtesy -
 Royal Textile Academy,
Bhutan 


This little Himalayan Kingdom which measures its GDP not as a measure of money or currency but as a Happiness Index – the term Gross National Happiness has its enviable repertoire of textiles. The textiles which I had seen at the various exhibitions organised by Dastkar and Dastakari Haat Samiti, came into their cultural and historical perspective at the exhibition organised at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi, where a host of textiles and jewellery were displayed. Further research via the Bhutanese Embassy led to the email exchange of information from both the Royal Textile Academy and The Textile Museum, Department of Culture, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, Bhutanese Textiles, on the textile heritage of Bhutan.

The Exhibition titled – Textile Arts from the Land of the Peaceful Dragon – was a collaborative effort between the Textile Museum of Bhutan with the ICCR. The focus was to showcase and promote Bhutanese Textiles. Introduce and export Bhutanese textiles to international markets to fulfill the eventual goal of self sustainability. To provide a platform for Cultural Exchange between the two countries as the event also hosted a Cultural program from the Bhutanese Cultural troupe and to build partnerships in Design Industry and promote regional collaboration in design through institutional linkages and cooperation.

Via email, Mrs. Rinzin O. Dorji, Executive Director, Royal Textile Academy says, “Thagzo or the art of weaving is one of the 13 traditional arts of Bhutan.  Our weaving tradition spans more than three centuries, for generations Bhutanese girls have been trained in the textile arts from an early age – a skill passed down from mother to daughter. But as development sets in, rural life has gradually evolved towards urbanization and many mothers are no longer able to teach their daughters the art of weaving.  But this tradition is slowly on the decline due to rapid urbanization.”  Royal Textile Academy has taken upon itself the mandate of reviving weaving and preserving the textile arts of Bhutan. 

Image Courtesy-
Royal Textile Academy,
Bhutan

Mrs. Dorji adds, “The Academy aims to revive this culture of weaving, to ensure that the weaving art form is not lost and to facilitate the knowledge transfer to the younger generation outside of the existing custom of mothers teaching daughters.   It also strives to create awareness and encourage international collaboration to promote mutually beneficial exhibitions and educational programs.” 

The booklet produced for the exhibition gives in great detail and length the garments worn and the types of looms, appliqué and embroidery done. Three types of looms are in existence in Bhutan. The back strap loom is known as pangthag. This was the most popular loom and a predecessor to more modern frame looms. The frame looms which are commonly used are called thrithag – these are the horizontal ones. Card looms are used for narrow textiles.

The weaving of day to day was the exclusive preserve of the women, while the textiles to be stitched or sewn were made by men.  The monk body was also trained to stitch and sew. Woven cloth is mainly used for clothing. The cloth is woven on narrow looms and joined together. For a man’s garments the loom length is joined in a way that the stripes are oriented vertically. On the other hand for a woman’s dress it is done horizontally. The men’s garment is called gho and the women’s garment the kira.  Kera the belt is woven on the card loom.  Embroidered and appliqué textiles are created which are used in Dzong’s fortresses, temples, monasteries and noble households. These include throne covers, gayok saddle covers, textiles used for ceremonial purposes, temple hangings, canopies scrolls, shoes. Silk is used predominantly.

To the onlooker, the row of pattern of weaving seems amazing, so beautifully does each colour merge with the other. The designs and patterns blend seamlessly into each other. Geometric patterns are predominant. But it follows itself into continuous patterning and does not looked joined at all. It is almost like jacquard look work, mixing geometrical patterns with some motifs for ornamentation. There are a lot of traditional names for the patterns ranging from mentsi mathra, aikapur pattern and more. The silk used ranges from cultivated silk, Chinese silk, wild silk. Backing on the garment uses Indian cotton.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

INSPIRATIONALLY YOURS - Hungarian Embroidery - II

( We had briefly given an introduction to Hungarian embroidery or Embroidery from Hungary in the earlier article. Here we look at different types of embroidery from Hungary very broadly. We hope these intricate stitches give you inspiration.)   Different types of Embroidery The stitches common to Hungarian embroidery include satin, cross stitch, daisy and chain stitch and darning stitches. Apart from the fine painstaking Matyo needlework, the Kalocsa embroidery centre is another well known place. Hodmezovasarhely the embroidery style popular in the 17 th /18 th Century is being revived and made into contemporary home furnishings. Cross stitch embroidery from Bereg, red and blue Paloc embroidery, Sarkoz, Transdanubia consisting Rabakoz and Buzsak. Each centre well known for its share of needlework. Halas lace is unique and stands out. The most painstakingly done embroidery, which is outstanding, is embroidery from Matyo. It is beautiful to say the least.  Done using minute...
Post a Comment
Read more

TEXTILE WANDERINGS - Weavers Service Centre - Delhi

  One of my recent visits to the Weaver’s Service Centre in Delhi to get some information on Master Craftsmen awardees proved an eye opener to the vast potential and vast information source that the Weaver’s Service Centre opened under the aegis of the DC Handlooms is. Meant to be a centre to disseminate information, collect, collate propagate weaving, the base has been to develop a vast repertoire on the textile especially the handloom tradition of the country. There are 28 Weaver’s Service Centre established across the country. The country is broadly divided into four zones – North, South, East and West. There is one nodal WSC (headquarter) in each zone. Each zone has several WSC representative of the particular State which caters to the weaving centers in that geographical belt. The vastness of the weaving heritage in the country is such that there are weavers in every village assimilating a host of techniques. In the North East, weaving is done nearly in every home. Thus the Zo...
Post a Comment
Read more

SOURCING HUB - Handloom Clusters - PART I - The Integrated Handloom Cluster Development Scheme helping the handloom clusters grow

The pride of place – India’s handloom Industry India's handloom industry has usually been associated with the image of craft, what is often forgotten is that it is the second largest provider of employment in the country after agriculture. Given this, there is a definitive thrust by the Government to augment the sector and give it support to shape up into a well defined industry. One such initiative has been the development of handloom clusters. The main purpose of developing these clusters has apart from the agenda of social development and keeping a skill heritage alive, the vast potential available in working with handlooms. The strength ranging from flexibility of production in small quantities, openness to innovation, low capital investment and the magical design combinations that are possible. Being one of its kind, the export potential is tremendous as also its usage in the domestic market. Of the various schemes launched including development of Mega Clusters as per the ...
Post a Comment
Read more