English - JCIC-Heritage

5Meeting with the Director of the National Library and
Archives and Director of the Folk Heritage Museum
Date and Time: February 17, 11:15
Location: National Library and Archives
Attendees:
・Dorji Wangchuk (Director, Folk Heritage Museum), Gyonpo Tshering (Director, the National
Library and Archives), Kungsan Delek (Senior Archivist, National Library and Archives),
Tshering Choki (Staff, National Library and Archives),
・JCIC
Content of the meeting:
[National Folk Heritage Museum]
• The museum was opened in July 2001, one month after the Textile Museum. A farmhouse
was purchased by the government for use as a museum.
• It was established to serve as a showcase introducing traditional Bhutanese life to foreign
tourists. Currently over 1,100 items are stored.
• The items in the collection were gathered from various regions in Bhutan.
• There are 11 staff members, including the director, an exhibition curator, three assistants in
charge of guiding tours, and the remainder of the people are drivers, security staff, landscape
gardeners, etc.
• There is one research officer but he is absent because he is currently studying in India.
• Education in museology is not available in Bhutan, so there is no choice but to study abroad.
• The booklet of the museum collection was created by a French person.
• The collection is comprised primarily of wooden objects and earthenware objects, but there
are few metal objects. There is no particular damage by insects, etc., but objects made from
yak hair deteriorate in approximately two years.
• In the future, they hope to create a preservation room larger than the present one.
• Since two years ago, cultural officers assigned to each of Bhutan's 20 prefectures have
played an important role in the administration of cultural property protection. Before that, all
direction came from the national government to the regional level, which took time.
• Exchange has taken place with the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (FAAM).
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