Jigmi Wangdi 

Her Majesty the Gyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuck launched three national survey reports, a colour reference booklet and a Design Resource Centre (DRC)  at Royal Textile Academy (RTA) yesterday. 

The resources are in support of Bhutanese weavers, the textile industry, and the creative and designing sector. 

The Theory of Colour booklet will assist Bhutanese weavers to enhance and expand designing skills beyond their traditional colour schemes. The booklet documents traditional colour schemes of Bhutanese textiles while serving as a reference for future weavers and others. RTA will distribute them to weavers across the country and also train them. 

The resource centre is a physical space where design books and resources will be available to all who are involved in the creative sector. There are around 200 books covering a wide range of topics including graphic design, branding, fashion history, pattern cutting and biographies of different designers. Weavers and fashion designers can access more than 100 different types of fibres, yarns, dyeing materials and sample fabrics for reference, review and detailed examination.

The survey reports provide an update on the status of the textile sector in Bhutan and offer insights into the textile practice.

The data and findings are expected to help policymakers, industry stakeholders, practitioners and interested parties with a better understanding of the textile sector, which can also be guidelines during the formulation of policies and programmes pertaining to the development of the textile and design industry. 

The surveys conducted are National Textiles Purchase and Consumption survey, Bhutan Hand-woven Textile Industry survey and on Youth Attitudinal survey on Weaving, Designing and Textile Culture in Bhutan. This is the first time RTA has conducted three surveys together. 

The RTA received support from the Centre for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH) of the Smithsonian Institution and the William H Geiger Family Foundation Inc. USA for the survey report and the Theory of Colour booklet.