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National Institute of Zorig Chusum is a school of arts that trains students in Bhutan’s 13 traditional arts and crafts.
Sorry for the delay in posting on this series. I should be on track now.
National Institute of Zorig Chusum accommodation
In Thimpu, while my tourist permit was getting extended in the government office and my friend was sick (he probably couldn’t take the clean air and calm streets), I visited the Zorig Chusum school. It is located in the north of the city, few minutes away from the National Library.
It is indeed suggested to apply for / extend your travel permits on your first day in Thimpu. The process is bureaucratic and takes a whole day. While that happens, you are basically trapped in Thimpu, so it is a good time to explore the city!
Making ornaments and small dolls
‘Zorig Chusum’, the thirteen traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan were formally categorized during 17th century and are as follows:
- Shing zo (woodwork)
- Dho zo (stonework)
- Par zo (carving)
- Lha zo (painting)
- Jim zo (sculpting)
- Lug zo (casting)
- Shag zo (wood turning)
- Gar zo (blacksmithy)
- Troe ko (ornament making)
- Tsha zo (bamboo work)
- De zo (paper making)
- Tshem zo (tailoring, embroidery and applique)
- Thag zo (weaving)
Wood carving, very intricate!
Students interested in the Arts study at the National Institute of Zorig Chusum for four to five years after finishing highschool. Everywhere in Bhutan one can see buildings that are traditionally decorated, wall paintings, temple art and handicrafts, so I am told that finding jobs is not a problem for this school. (And here my business school is struggling…)
Blacksmithy class
This institute is open for visitors. Infact, it is so open that visitors can enter a class in progress. I entered the school premises during working hours and went to the office to check. The lady there asked me to ‘go anywhere I want and see for yourself. If you need help, come back…’
I walked around. There were several classes in progress. I took a look from outside the door. It seemed unreasonable for a camera-wielding tourist to venture inside a class and disturb the students. One of the instructors in the sculpture class saw me standing hesitantly at the door. He came over and welcomed me to enter his class. He explained how the whole process works and how students more or less pick their own pace of studying. But the training is so rigorous that students progress quickly.
It was a wonderful experience to see this class.
Sculpting
Students are very shy (like most people) and are curious about the camera. I let them scrutinize my camera while I appreciated their wood carvings and sculptures. Students will enthusiastically describe the object on their work table – hand gestures of the sculptures or the expression on the demon’s face.
All this while the class was in progress and their teacher was in the same room. I guess they are not bothered by such minor disturbances while learning something that takes years to perfect. Now it makes sense! 
Students of the Zorig Chusum
Since I could not read Dzonkha, and all lavishly decorated buildings look the same, I entered a student dorm (boys) without knowing. It was very messy like any student hostel. Apart from the sleeping arrangements, they had a large hang-out area where some people were chatting and others were working on their art. The shrine inside the student house is a nicely decorated cozy room.
I love Bhutan too
I met a lady from Norway who was residing in Bhutan for 3 years. She was trained in Tibetian music during her 7-year stay in India and now she was to Bhutan to teach it. She told me that this place is deceiving – before you know, you will fall in love with it and never go back. Interesting things people do! And I can totally see what she means…
Weaving fabric
I wanted to buy some students’ artwork (hoping that it would be cheaper) but the souvenir store inside the school was unaffordable for me. Maybe I would have got some interesting bargains had I asked some of the students directly…
It was interesting to see both boys and girls involved in all classes. Boys’ majority in the BlackSmithy class and girls’ majority in the Ornament making one.
Tailoring
This place was one of the intriguing aspects of Bhutan. Throwing open a school of arts to tourists takes this concept of cultural tourism to a whole different level.
In the next post, I travel to three major temples in Thimpu.
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Sounds fascinating concepts. I would visit Bhutan one day … Bhutan govt. should think of sponsoring your website
Amazing arwork on display here! Amazing also to know they make a living off artwork.
Gopinath, isn’t that great! Artists can live because art is an integral part of their life.
Hi Priyank,
Amazing that this society still lays so much emphasis on learning various traditional arts and crafts.
This is a great thing. You keep the traditions and culture alive and encourage mass participation. It also becomes a living thing as people incorporate newer ideas and an ancient culture becomes flexible to absorb the new as well.
Mavin, yes I agree, the system is fascinating indeed. Very well thought and implemented.
Why did you need to extend your tourist permit? And why do you recommend it to everyone? Is the permit that they give ridiculously short that everyone basically needs to extend it?
I cannot believe how intricate the designs were. It must be very hard work for the students.
And how did you and the locals converse? Don’t tell me they speak English?
LIW,
Oops, I should be careful. The note about extending tourist permit was mostly for Indian tourists who have to do the paperwork themselves (because its free.) We were given permits for 7 days only and we wanted to stay longer.
For non-Indian foreign tourists, all this work is completed in advance by tour agencies (and is part of the $200-$250 charge they pay per day in Bhutan.)
National language of Bhutan is Dzonkha, but most people speak English, Hindi and sometimes Nepalese too!
This is a really good post Priyank, loved reading it. You’ve described in such detail and beauty that I actually feel like visiting the art school this very moment! Imagine letting random visitors walk into a class in progress, that’s such an odd but brilliant idea! Keep writing, you make a very talented travel-blogger
Ameeta, thankyou very much! Your response encourages me to write better!
very interesting photos Priyank. I liked the last one the best.
cool Thanks Nita!
WTF !
I had written such a long comment and it has vanished ! Gave me wordpress error. I had asked you many questions. Not repeating now.
Maybe some other time,… I’d be happy to answer questions from prospective travelers!
How are you doing Priyank? What are your travel plans for 2009?
Hi Mridula,
I’m good, very busy these days. No plans for 2009 for now, this year is solely for saving money
I don’t know how I missed this post. As always, very well written and very informative. I love the concept of letting the students pick their pace of study! It is so much more refreshing than education in India which has become a commodity these days.
I recently read a book called “Geography of Bliss” where the author goes to different countries to see why they are happy. In Bhutan, he finds that people are very content with a simple life and that makes them happy. He also thinks that creativity makes people happy. No wonder you see so many artists there!
Vamsee, thanks for the tip on the book. Very interesting and true, I had the same thoughts about the Bhutanese lifestyle.
Education in India… ah well, that’s a depressing and long topic of discussion….!
one of the best posts of your bhutan series..colleges like this are Aagreat way to ensure that the arts are passed on..recently I passed the arts college in chennai which is a stone’s throw and I wondered how easy it is to miss it in the middle of the usual rigmarole
Thanks Lakshmi! I found the place very interesting too, so much to see and learn from a simple school!
Aha I have been to this place and now I remember been in a classroom as well. You have described it quite well. I will admit though I own a Buddha Statue but purchased in Nepal instead. These things take time to make so paying a price is not really an issue.
Hi Odzer, thanks! btw, why didn’t you write your blog url while commenting?
Hmmmm. Mostly because it filled in the fields automatically perhaps I should disable that feature… I have corrected it now.
cool, but now for some reason your url shows: http://http:// ….