Papier Mâché

The art of papier mache in Kashmir is considered as the epitome of fineness being a direct descendent of age-old Persian craft. The craft made its way to Kashmir in the 14th century through the mystic Persian saint, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani, as he visited the Valley with a hoard of skilled artisans. This unique art form became the soul of Kashmir and gradually took over as a form of ornamentation for varied artifacts.  Innovations by native artisans grabbed attention from all over the world elating the range of art. Today it no longer remains restricted to artifacts and has gone way too far to become a feature of interior designing, wall art and murals, tissue boxes, lamp stands, tables, coasters, trays and even miniature paintings

The process of papier mache involves two major stages, Sakhtsazi and Naqashi. Sakhsazi is the creation of basic structure from paper pulp. The paper pulp undergoes days of water soaking followed by grinding (in stone mortar) for uniform consistency. The mixture is left under the sun to dry naturally before being combined with rice glue (atij). Clay or wooden molds are used for molding the mixture into a desired shape, before it dries completely. Manual lacquering and smoothening process is executed carefully and a layer of butter paper is finally wrapped on surface to  safeguard against the cracks in paint and finish.

Naqashi involves designing and painting the product by hand using organic colors. The designs are drawn manually on each product after the base coat and filled with different colors and embellishments, adding a magic touch that makes each piece a unique one in itself since the process is absolutely manual and a personal touch of the artist is present in each piece.  

   Artisane showcases a vast range of papier mache items crafted by highly skilled artisans, which one can witness while going through the workshop area “karkhana” at the centre.