The Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan (RTA) is a non-government, non-profit institution in Thimphu dedicated to the preservation, documentation and teaching of Bhutanese textile traditions. It was instituted in May 2005 under the patronage of Queen Mother Sangay Choden Wangchuck and grew out of the Royal Textile Museum, established in 2001.
The Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan (Dzongkha: ཐགས་ཟོ་སློབ་ཆེན་), commonly abbreviated RTA, is a non-government, non-profit cultural institution based in Thimphu. It was instituted in May 2005 under the patronage of Queen Mother Sangay Choden Wangchuck as the parent body of the earlier Royal Textile Museum, which had opened in May 2001.[1]
The Academy is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of thagzo, the Bhutanese weaving tradition, recognised as one of the country's thirteen traditional arts and crafts (zorig chusum). Its mandate covers the documentation of weaving techniques and patterns, the teaching of weaving and dyeing to a new generation of practitioners, and the conservation of historical textile collections held by the Royal Family and contributed by private donors.[2]
The Academy occupies a purpose-built complex in Norzin Lam, Thimphu, opened in 2012, which houses the Royal Textile Museum, the Conservation Centre, the Weaving Department, a research library and a textile shop. It is one of the principal cultural visitor sites in Thimphu and a national reference institution for textile scholarship.[3]
Background and Founding
The institutional history of the Academy begins with the Textile Museum, founded in May 2001 under the patronage of Queen Mother Sangay Choden Wangchuck. The Museum was established to preserve and exhibit Bhutanese textiles at a moment when many older techniques and patterns were no longer being actively taught in the dzongkhags. The Royal Textile Academy was formally launched in May 2005 to provide a permanent organisational and financial framework for the Museum and to expand its work into teaching and conservation.[4]
Departments and Activities
The Academy is organised around four main programmes:
- The Royal Textile Museum, with two galleries: a permanent upper gallery presenting the major weaves and regional styles of Bhutan, and a lower gallery used for temporary exhibitions on specific themes such as royal court textiles, dyes or specific dzongkhags' traditions.
- The Weaving Department, which offers structured training in thagzo techniques, including kushuthara, aikapur and other regional patterns, to weavers from across Bhutan.
- The Conservation Centre, established with international technical assistance, which carries out the cleaning, stabilisation and storage of historical textiles.
- The Library and Research Programme, which holds reference material on Bhutanese and Himalayan textiles and supports visiting scholars.
The Academy also organises an annual textile festival in Thimphu, which combines exhibitions, weaving demonstrations and a marketplace for weavers from the dzongkhags.[5]
International Partnerships
The Academy has developed a series of formal partnerships with overseas museums and cultural institutions. In 2016 it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington, D.C., which led to a multi-year project on the preservation and promotion of hand-loom weaving traditions in Bhutan announced in subsequent years. The Academy also receives technical and financial support from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and has worked with the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on loans and exchange exhibitions.[6]
A US-based support body, the Friends of the Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan, raises funds and coordinates academic and donor relationships in North America.[7]
Practical Information
The Royal Textile Academy is located on Norzin Lam, Thimphu, opposite the National Library. It is open to the public on weekdays and Saturdays, with an entrance fee charged for international visitors and a reduced rate for Bhutanese visitors. Guided tours and weaving demonstrations are available by arrangement.
- Address: Norzin Lam, Thimphu, Bhutan
- Website: www.rtabhutan.org
- Phone: +975 2 336 460
References
- About Us — Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan
- Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan — official site
- Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan — Wikipedia
- Royal Textile Academy formally launched — RTA news
- Royal Textile Academy — Gyalyum Charitable Trust Fund
- Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage launches project with the Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan — Smithsonian Institution
- Friends of the Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan
See also
Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan
The Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan (RTAB), established in 2004 under the patronage of Her Majesty Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck, promotes, preserves, and documents Bhutan's weaving traditions through its museum, research programmes, and training initiatives. Its Thimphu museum houses the largest public collection of Bhutanese textiles in the country.
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Chugo is a traditional Bhutanese hard cheese made from yak milk, smoke-dried over wood fires and strung on yak hair for storage and transport. Renowned as one of the hardest cheeses in the world, it is chewed slowly over thirty minutes or more like a natural gum, providing essential protein and calories to highland communities.
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Bhutan possesses a rich and diverse body of oral literary traditions encompassing epic narratives, folktales, proverbs, riddles, songs, and ritual texts transmitted across generations without written form. These traditions serve as repositories of historical memory, moral instruction, ecological knowledge, and communal identity, and are now the subject of urgent preservation efforts.
culture·7 min read
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