Cultural Atlas Workshop in Thimphu and the release of the Bhutan Cultural Atlas Brochure

During the Cultural Atlas Workshop, which will take place on 26 April 2016 in Thimphu, Bhutan, the Royal University of Bhutan and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre will be introducing the very first Bhutan Cultural Atlas Brochure.

The team of experts that collaborated on the Bhutan Cultural Atlas was composed of representatives of the Institute of Language and Culture Studies of the Royal University of Bhutan and the CNRS (France), with support from the Government of Bhutan, particularly from the Division for Conservation of Heritage Sites and the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs. Together, they mapped two regions of Bhutan, Bumthang and Trongsa, listing those Bhutanese sites, monuments, buildings and other structures which “reflect the cultural and artistic values of a community or the nation of Bhutan”; “give a sense of identity to a community”; and “reflect the attachment to and a sense of collective ownership by the nation or a community of Bhutan”. This mapping process and the results of several years’ of work have been summarised into the 56 pages Bhutan Cultural Atlas Brochure. This brochure will be circulated among the local and national authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders to encourage their contribution to the protection of cultural heritage of Bhutan.

The publication, the initiatives of the Bhutan Cultural Atlas and the associated workshop were made possible thanks to the continuous collaboration between the Royal University of Bhutan, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Office in New Delhi, together with the Oriental Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance (OCHSPA, France), for whose generous financial support the various project partners are very grateful.