Mud Black: Documenting Traditional Mud Dyeing for Bumthang Wool Textiles in Bhutan

This project will document the traditional black mud-dye process known as Zhen, which is used in Bumthang to dye wool for Mathra and other important Bhutanese textiles.

The knowledge is at serious risk of disappearing. Only a very small number of people still hold detailed knowledge of the process. The main documentation will centre on Nene Rinchen Zangmo, an elder master dyer who still carries out the full mud-dye cycle, and Tshewang Peldon, her niece and an emerging knowledge holder.

The team will record the complete process, from collecting the mud and preparing the dye ponds to treating the wool, repeating the dyeing and resting stages, drying the yarn and using it in woven textiles. The project will also document the seasonal, environmental, social and spiritual knowledge connected to the practice.

Skeins of dyed yarn drying beside a traditional timber building in Bhutan. Photo credit: Diksha Tamang,2023.

A dyer – knowledge holder, lifts yarn from a steaming outdoor dye bath during a traditional natural-dyeing process. Photo credit: Tshering Choden, 2020.

Hands work wool yarn in a concentrated black dye bath to help the colour penetrate the fibres evenly. Photo credit: Tshering Choden, 2025.

A Bhutanese knowledge holder tends an outdoor dye pot while skeins of yarn dry in the background. Photo credit: Tshering Choden, 2024.

Knowledge holders gather plants in a forested area for use in traditional textile dyeing. Photo credit: Dorji Zangmo, 2024.

Knowledge holders collect plant material for natural dye preparation in Bhutan.Photo credit: Dorji Zangmo, 2024.

Yarn and dye material are handled in a dark bath during one stage of the traditional black-dyeing process. Photo credit: Tshering Choden, 2020.

Mud collected from a wetland area for use in the traditional black-dyeing process in Bumthang, Bhutan.Photo credit: Dawa Seldon, 2025.

A skein of newly dyed black yarn is examined after removal from the dye bath. Photo credit: Tshering Choden, 2025.

Mud and mineral-rich material collected from a wetland area for use or examination during traditional dye preparation.Photo credit: Dawa Seldon, 2025.

The research will use video, photography, audio recordings, interviews, observation, field notes, maps and simple process diagrams. All documentation will be carried out with informed consent and in close partnership with the Bhutan YDF/RADA, and participating knowledge holders and will utilise collaborative methodologies developed by Ellen Rock Global.

The project will create an archival-quality digital collection for EMKP, alongside locally useful materials such as short films, diagrams and a bilingual booklet in English and Dzongkha. The materials will support future research, cultural education and community-led work to sustain this endangered knowledge.

PI: Ellen Rock

Collaborators: Tshering Choden; Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska; James Reibl.

Research Location: Thimphu; Chumey, Dorjibi and Lamai Goenpa in Bumthang, Bumthang region, Bhutan

Host Institution: Bhutan Youth Development Fund (YDF)

Ellen Rock, Principal Investigator, Project Lead.

Tshering Choden, Research Assistant and Local Project Coordinator.

Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska, Co-Investigator

James Reibl, Co-Applicant and Audiovisual Documentation Lead

Top Banner Image: Naturally dyed yarns displaying a range of colours produced through Bhutanese plant- and mineral-based dyeing practices, Bhutan. Photo credit: Dawa Seldon, 2025.