Textile Trails’ 2019 tour of Bhutan was scheduled to coincide with three festivals and to give even greater opportunities for immersion and hands-on learning.
As ever, we were warmly welcomed by our Bhutanese hosts across the country.
I closed out 2018 sharing the textile & culture of Bhutan with a wonderful group of travellers who joined me on Textile Trail’s tour.
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Please enjoy a peek into the 2017 Textile Tour of Bhutan. Continue reading
What a wonderful time to be visiting Bhutan! I love the thrima technique and will be there in December to see this new exhibition. Continue reading
The Textile Traditions of Bhutan tour 2016 has come to an end in Bhutan, but the memories and insights continue to be processed as guests return home. I am hearing from some that they are now reluctant to wash textiles purchased from nomads as their smell of wood smoke evokes Bhutan so strongly. Here is a little of what we got up to… Continue reading
Recently I enjoyed browsing through the sumptuous kushutara brocades paraded down the catwalk at the Window to Woven Dreams fashion show held at the opening of the new Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan. Continue reading
In a small gallery in a weaving village on the outskirts of Luang Prabang, I did a double-take, seeing cushions made from Bhutanese aikapur jedrima!
The Bhutanese describe the width of these supplementary warp patterns in “legs” which are counted in the cross-hatched bars that run at right angles across the yellow and red stripes. Continue reading
In this close-up, you can see how the supplementary weft threads in this type of pattern (on the green ground in this gho) are taken all the way to the rainbow stripes, and the point where they reverse direction is hidden there. Continue reading
At tsechu, it is not only the women showing off their finery, but the men parade some pretty special aikapur ghos.
These ones have supplementary weft designs between the stripes of (yellow and red) supplementary warp patterning. Continue reading
