Fashion & Textiles at Norbulingka

One of Norbulingka’s aims has always been to provide gainful employment to Tibetan refugees, offering training, and bringing out the natural abilities of people who have come from Tibet and are largely uneducated in the skills needed to find employment in the modern world. Women especially were largely illiterate until quite recently. However, coming from a culture where each family was largely self-sufficient, and even made their own tents and clothing, most women did have knowledge of sewing. And it was upon this base of knowledge that began our two sections, which employ many of the women at Norbulingka: Tailoring Appliqué and Tailoring Design.