Papermaking Where There is No Papermaking Tradition - (CUSAT ...

Bindhu collects pineapple leaves for papermaking fiber.
An ikat weaver at Pochampalli in Andra Pradesh, central India. Note the white
marks around the terracotta pit where he sits at his loom. These marks indicate
cloth and thread’s sacred place in Indian culture, a status rarely granted paper.
cooking and hand beating fiber laborious and time-consuming.
Papermaking at the Rural Centre was a low priority compared
to almost everything else. The women worked at SEWA because
they needed a job, not out of interest in handmade paper and local
fibers. They had not seen other handmade papers so they had
nothing to compare theirs to. Despite the center’s commitment to
sustainability, the women sloshed water wildly as they rinsed the
cooked fiber. They were resistant to even the most rudimentary
system of measuring alkali, preferring to dump in lye in great random
quantities. I carried pH strips in my pocket, testing the cook
water and the rinsed fiber over and over. Gradually, they took an
interest in a simple measuring system and obtaining pH papers.
After we had made several batches of paper, I led them through
the same exercise I had done with Nambisan’s PhD students—
rumpling, crumpling, folding, tearing, and burnishing a variety
of papers. I introduced the idea of evaluating their paper in terms
of how well it fulfilled the requirements of its intended use. Staff
began asking questions and proposing experiments of their own.
We talked about designing cards that reflected cultural traditions
of Kerala. The women became conscious of not wasting fiber that
had taken so long to prepare. I helped them to make journals with
samples of the papers we had made and notes on our processes,
a reference for them, though they did it mostly to humor me. We
persisted. On the road up to the Rural Centre a military camp displays
a large billboard: BASH ON REGARDLESS. I laughed the
first time I saw it, then took it as my motto.
I left the women on their own for a few days to take a short
vacation north of Kerala. Before I left, I assigned some papermaking
experiments. On my return, the staff proudly showed me their
work. Unfortunately, during my final week, they received a large
order for blank conference books made with their usual paper, so
we could not pursue the new papers further. I left unsure whether
they would continue the work we had begun. Six months later, I
was thrilled to receive a stack of large sheets of the new papers that
they had made after I left.
Beyond refining South India’s handmade paper, the next challenge
is market creation. In centuries past, India’s royal families
were wealthy and discriminating patrons of the regions’ finest
crafts. With the end of royal states, some traditions have died for
want of patronage. Deep appreciation of the remaining arts is now
in the hands of a tiny group of artists, curators, and collectors who
know and appreciate fine crafts, but generally lack the wealth to
keep them going. SEWA’s unfamiliarity with the possibilities of
handmade paper is parallel to that of most Indians today. For years,
India’s best contemporary handmade paper has been made in two
centers: the Sri Aurobindo Ashram’s paper mill in Pondicherry,
south of Chennai (formerly Madras); and in Sanganer, an old papermaking
village in Rajasthan. I have heard that some traditional
paper is still being made in Sanganer. Apart from that possibility, I
am unaware of any Indian papermakers using traditional materials
or technology, or making burnished plant papers for miniature
painting, though there would be some market for it. Today’s miniature
artists paint on the backs of fine old papers, or not so fine,
somewhat old papers. The paintings are skillful, often beautiful,
and merit a reliable source of paper.
In South India’s larger cities and tourist hubs, department
stores and a few specialty shops sell endless varieties of neon-colored,
machine-embroidered, flocked, sequined, and splattered papers
labeled “handmade.” These papers lack entirely the integrity
of material that is a hallmark of fine paper. There are a tiny number
of shops selling real handmade paper.
How to increase the domestic market for true handmade paper
is a challenge. A more elitist approach might include: educating
artists and upwardly mobile Indians in the aesthetic of fine
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