Bhutan

Bhutanese Hand-Woven Shawl Receives UNESCO Award of Excellence

A range of Bhutanese crafts ranging from brass, paper and textile products were in September 2008 judged by an international panel of experts of the South Asia UNESCO Award of Excellence for Handicrafts (AWARD). Out of a total of 13 products, one of the Bhutanese products received the AWARD. This was a cotton shawl, dyed in natural dyes, made by Ms. Karma Yanchen. They jury commended the excellent craftsmanship in this cotton hand woven shawl and appreciated that this is a continuation of an old traditional skill of the region.

The fundamental mission of the AWARD programme is to give recognition to quality craft products that combines excellence of traditional skills, design innovation and aesthetics, thereby raising the quality standard of craft products to facilitate international market access. Handicraft Association of Bhutan (HAB) was appointed as Bhutan.s national focal point for South Asia UNESCO Award of Excellence in May 2008. Formed in December 2005, HAB aims to promote Bhutanese handicrafts domestically and internationally. Other important areas of work for HAB are to upgrade design and quality of craft products and skills of artisans in Bhutan. The definition of „handicrafts. here is stated as “products that are produced either completely by hand or with the help of tools. Mechanical tools may be used as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most substantial component of the finished products. Handicrafts are made from raw materials and can be produced in unlimited numbers. Such products can be utilitarian, aesthetic, artistic, creative, culturally expressive, decorative, functional, traditional, religiously and socially symbolic and significant. (UNESCO/OITC International Symposium on ‘Crafts and the International Market” Trade and Customs Codification”, Manila, The Philippines, October 1997.)

In order to be eligible and enter the evaluation, all submissions must first fulfill two pre-conditions. Products and processes must be:

Eco-Friendly - Respect for the environment in materials and production techniques, exemplified through the sustainable use of natural dyes, natural fibers, recycled materials and the use of materials and production processes that are environmentally friendly Fair - Social responsibility: The producer must affirm that no labour laws or copyrights were violated and no individual or groups exploited unfairly at any stage in the production of a handicraft submitted for the AWARD.

An international panel of experts, nominated by UNESCO, evaluates submissions and selects products meeting ALL the following four criteria:

Excellent – Demonstrated excellence and standard-setting quality and craftsmanship: determined by the use of high quality materials, a high standard of techniques and the special attention to manufacturing and finishing details;

Authentic – Expression of cultural identity and traditional aesthetic values: demonstrated by a well-achieved application of aesthetic and cultural expression or traditional crafting techniques;

Innovative – Innovation in design and production” demonstrated by effective and successful blend of traditional and contemporary, or inventive and creative use of material, design, and production processes;

Marketable – Marketability of the craft products with potential for the world market: related to the functionality of the product, the safe use of potential buyers, a balance price-quality relationship or the sustainability of production.

Ms. Moe Chiba, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO, New Delhi, will be handing over the AWARD Certificate to Ms. Karma Yanchen at 9.00am, Friday, 19 December 2008 at the UN conference room. Ms Moe Chiba will also provide feed back and comments to participants whose products did not quality for the AWARD. Both these activities are supported by UNDP Bhutan.s Culture-Based Creative Industry Project. Specific to UNDP.s support to HAB include HAB.s training of Natural Dyes to weavers during the Crafts Festival 2008 and rural weavers in Eastern Bhutan and also establishing the Yarn Bank to make natural dyed yarns more easily accessible to weavers.