Bhutan · Painting / Religious Craft
ལྷ་བཟོ (Lhazo)
Lhazo (ལྷ་བཟོ — 'deity craft') is the Bhutanese tradition of Buddhist thangka scroll painting — closely related to Tibetan thangka but with a distinct Bhutanese iconographic style: the Karma Gadri tradition. The key technical distinction from Tibetan thangka is the Bhutanese approach to gold outlining (tracing): where Tibetan practice uses a fine gold line to outline all major figures, the Bhutanese Karma Gadri tradition adds an additional step — a 'gold wash' (serchen) applied over large gold areas and burnished with an agate stone to produce a burnished gold surface rather than a matte pigment surface. The burnishing direction and pressure determine whether the gold surface reads as fabric texture (directional burnish) or mirror surface (circular burnish) on the deity's robes and ornaments — this burnishing direction is iconographically coded: specific garment types require specific burnish directions.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Bhutan national ICH list; Zorig Chusum state designation
The carving of Buddhist scripture, prayer-flag designs, and mandala images in mirror-reversed relief onto wooden printing blocks, for mass xylographic printing and publication of sacred texts.
The making of the traditional bamboo bow (zhu) and arrow (da) used to play archery, Bhutan's national sport since 1971.
The making of religious clay statues, ritual objects, masks, and votive plaques (tsatsa) — one of the thirteen classical Zorig Chusum arts of Bhutan, distinguished among Himalayan Buddhist sculptural traditions and closing a gap distinct…
The turning of wooden bowls, cups, and containers — traditionally called dapa and phob — from rare, wild-harvested wood burls (dza), one of the thirteen classical Zorig Chusum arts of Bhutan and, according to Bhutanese craft-heritage…
Lugzo (ལུག་བཟོ — 'casting craft') is Bhutanese lost-wax and sand casting tradition — producing the ritual bells (drilbu), dorje (thunderbolt scepter), butter lamp stands, and Buddhist deity figures that furnish every Bhutanese monastery…
Parzo (སྤར་བཟོ — 'slate craft') is the Bhutanese tradition of carving Buddhist mantras, images, and decorative motifs into slate and black stone — producing the mani stones placed at mountain passes, monastery walls, and river confluences…
Kinpaku-oshi (金箔押し — gold leaf pressing) is the technique of applying gold leaf to wooden Buddhist sculptures, screens, and architectural elements using urushi adhesive (漆箔 urushi-haku) or sizing (膠箔 nikawa-haku) as the bonding medium.
A self-taught primitivist painting tradition rendering Honduran street scenes, market life, and small-town landscapes in bold, direct color, founded by José Antonio Velásquez (1906–1983), widely regarded as the founder of Honduran…
A ritual wall-painting tradition of the Deevaru community of Sagar and the Shimoga region of Karnataka.
The Chin facial tattoo tradition (မျက်နှာတက် myin dat) is the practice of tattooing the faces of Chin women with sub-group-specific patterns — historically a coming-of-age practice for Chin women beginning around age 11–15, producing…
The conservation of the Carolingian frescos at the Convent of St.
The conservation of the painted churches (oratori) of Canton Ticino — a remarkable concentration of medieval and Renaissance fresco programs in the small rural chapels of the Ticino valleys, painted by the same Lombard and Ticinese master…