Weaving, and the thirteen crafts

The Zorig Chusum, thirteen arts and crafts, were codified in the seventeenth century and are still taught as a full curriculum at the School of Traditional Arts in Thimphu. Painting, sculpture, wood carving, casting, blacksmithing, embroidery, papermaking, weaving and more. Students spend four to six years on a single discipline.

Why textiles matter most

Weaving is the craft with the deepest hold on daily life, because everyone wears it. The gho for men and the kira for women are not costume; they are required in offices, schools and dzongs. That sustains a real economy of weavers rather than a heritage display.

What you are looking at

Kishuthara, woven in the east around Lhuentse, is the most intricate. A single kira can take a skilled weaver the better part of a year on a backstrap loom. Yathra from Bumthang is thicker wool in bold geometric bands, made for cold. Both are woven from memory; the patterns are not written down.

A year of one person’s work, on a loom strapped to her own back. Price it accordingly.

Buying well

Machine-made imports are sold widely and are much cheaper. Handwoven pieces have small irregularities and the reverse side tells you most. Ask where it was woven and by whom, in a good shop the answer is specific.

Where to see it made

The Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu, and weaving households in the east. Watching someone work a backstrap loom for ten minutes explains the price better than any label.