The purchase of a Dropenling product directly supports Tibetan artisans and their families and helps to preserve and perpetuate Tibetan culture. Dropenling artisans produce a range of authentic Tibetan crafts: woven textiles and carpets, painted wood furnishings and objects, stone carvings, leather bags, jewelry, dolls and toys. Profits from the sales are reinvested to further support Tibetan communities.
Produced only by Tibetan artisans within the Tibet Autonomous Region.

MEET TIBETAN ARTISANS

NOMAD ARTISANS

“Drokpa” means Nomads in the Tibetan language. Dropenling team works with Nagchu prefecture in Northern Tibet where a group of nomads creates different nomads products such as collar, leg-tie, slingshots, ropes, and blankets. Dropenling staff members travel more than 330 km to purchase Tibetan nomads products and sell them to domestic and international customers.

DORJEE, THANGKA PAINTING MASTER

The word “Thangka” means “thing that one unrolls” in Classical Tibetan. Thangka is rarely signed, but some artists are known, mostly because they were important monastic leaders rather than famous as artists. Dorjee learned Thangka painting at the age of thirteen and he mastered Thangka painting skills. He now owns a workshop with more than ten apprentices.

TSEYANG, WEAVING LOCAL MATERIALS

The woven textiles were quite popular in most parts of Tibet. Tseyang is one of the women who weave local striped aprons worn with traditional clothes. Since Dropenling furnished new stripes and color combination training, she experienced that the local stripes can do many things besides traditional clothes. Now she can produce her own stripes with different color combinations and produce cushion covers.

PELJOR WANGDEN, RUG WEAVER

Dropenling team met Peljor in 2002 when he worked in his home busy with weaving carpets. He learned weaving carpet skills when he was 14 years old and now he mastered weaving carpets and trained to his apprentices in his village. Through the Dropenling handcrafts development center, he received numerous trainings such as reviving natural dye training.

TEXTILE WEAVERS

Weaving textiles was pretty common in Tibet, especially in rural areas. Dropenling had invited an Australian expert to teach new woven technique to the local women from Lhatse village. In 2019 Dropenling provided a free weaving training to local women from Shigatse. Dolma, Passang and Bhuti can produced handmade carpets, scarves and shawls.

GAGA,
TAILOR

Dolls and toys are not very popular in Tibet, especially during the early period but Dropenling designer realized that, there is actually numerous animal images on the mural of the monasteries which depict the story of the celestial snow lion legend and other historical story of the animal kingdom. Gaga received toy training from Phenthok, which runs store and restaurant simultaneously.

PHUNLAR, ENTREPRENEUR

Phunla lived at western part of the Tibet, where a village summoned “Tashi Gang,” which means Happy village. He started workshop in his house and employed few women from his village. Later the local government had financed him with project money and built a large workshop to enlarge his business, as well as drive more people from out of poverty. He cooperated with Dropenling in 2018 and now his products were selling from Dropenling store.

CHOKDRUP TIBETAN SILVERSMITH

Tibetans loved to be decorated with gold and rings, especially during the festival. Chokdrup lived at foot of the Mt Everest with his two beautiful daughter and his wife. He learned silversmith when he was about thirteen. In 2000 He received silver training from Tibet women federation and later cooperated with Dropenling and produced lot of silver products that was highly welcomed by both domestic and international customers.