National Institute for Zorig Chusum

Set up by the government in 1971, the National Institute for Zorig Chusum teaches the thirteen traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan, from thangka painting and woodcarving to embroidery, sculpture and bronze casting. Students train for four to six years. Visitors walk through the classrooms and watch the work being done by hand, which is the best short explanation of why Bhutanese temples and homes look the way they do.

The thirteen crafts, the zorig chusum, were codified in the 17th century under the fourth Desi, and the list is fixed: painting, sculpture, carving, casting, blacksmithing, weaving, embroidery, papermaking, carpentry, masonry, bamboo work, gold and silver work, and leatherwork. Teaching them as a state institution was a deliberate act of preservation rather than a vocational programme. It is closed at weekends and during school holidays, so a visit needs checking against the term calendar, and the shop sells student work. It is a short walk above Clock Tower Square.