Training Craftspeople

Artisans at the Turquoise Mountain Institute receive intensive three-year training in their chosen craft, graduating with an internationally recognised City & Guilds accreditation. The Institute is home to the Alwaleed Philanthropies School of Calligraphy and Miniature Painting, the premier school for these arts in Afghanistan.

Applying to the Institute is highly competitive with only around 15 artisans selected in each craft every year. The small class size allows students to work closely with the Institute's distinguished master artisans, with one teacher to every four students. For the first two years of their time at the Institute, artisans are given a grounding in traditional designs and techniques, before going on to work on their own original designs in their final year.