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Bhutan: A Living Archive

The Kingdom of Bhutan has vibrant oral and embodied cultures across its mountainous landscape, which are now under pressure from globalization. This project aims to carry out an extensive audio-visual documentation to support local communities.

The Bhutan Cultural Library is made possible through the contributions and efforts of local individuals and communities in Bhutan in collaboration with Loden Foundation (formerly Shejun Agency) and the University of Virginia. The team gratefully acknowledges the generous support offered by Arcadia throughout the project.

Audio-Video provides a repository for audio and video recordings documenting Bhutanese oral and embodied cultural traditions, including searchable transcripts. These recordings originate from dispersed mountain communities across Bhutan and present traditions across a diverse genre.

Texts include essays on various genres of oral traditions in Bhutan, as well as other cultural subjects. Each text is linked to relevant places and subjects, such that users can explore the rich tapestry of Bhutanese culture through different media.

Images provides visual documentation of Bhutanese culture, environment, and places, thus allowing for a deep understanding of the varied contexts of Bhutanese culture. Each image’s description also links to relevant places and subjects that offer related resources..

Places offers descriptions and mapping of Bhutanese communities, temples, administrative units, mountains, lakes, and much more. Each place has its own self-contained website potentially presenting structured descriptions, essays, and a variety of media.

Subjects details richly annotated typologies of Bhutanese knowledge subjects. Like Places, each subject has its own self-contained website potentially presenting structured descriptions, essays, and a variety of media. At the hear is an encyclopedia of oral traditions.