Weaving School and Conservation Center

Weaving Center
Young weavers at the School
Young students gain hands-on instruction at the School
Young students gain hands-on instruction at the School

The Royal Weaving School actively trains the next generation of Bhutanese textile weavers, and also acts as a good-faith broker between the weavers and distributors to identify and connect to new markets for these desirable products. This combination of preservation and training will serve to integrate Bhutanese cultural and religious traditions, as well as regional economic development and self-sufficiency so vital to the families and communities of the artisan weavers. 

The School is a 4,500 square foot facility, serving as a hub in a national network dedicated to advancing the textile industry of Bhutan by training weavers, stimulating diverse textile designs and designers, and marketing textiles both within and beyond Bhutan. 

As the most advanced art form in Bhutan, textiles represent repositories of cultural identity and tradition as well as a potential engine for rural economic development and job production assuring a steady supply of marketable textiles, especially for international markets. 

Conservation Lab 

With the school, a 2,500 sq ft Conservation Lab is equipped with the most advanced equipment and technology for the conservation of ancient and modern textiles. The Conservation Lab provides a central facility for textile conservation and conservation training. The Royal Family of Bhutan has invited other museum and cultural centers to bring their most precious textiles to be conserved in Thimphu and to be shared with the Bhutanese and tourist audiences in special exhibitions in the Royal Textile Museum.