NEWS to NEW!
What does one do with old newspapers! In India we conveniently sell it to the raddiwala.
Well there is something rather much more exciting thatyou can do with old paper, including stale news – and that is papier mache!
Papier Mache literally means chewed paper.
Relax, no one is going to ask you to really chew on paper
Instead we welcome you to a workshop where paper is recycled into creations from your imagination.
Papier mache is an ancient art form, practiced in many parts of world. Here paper is decomposed into a slurry by putting it in water for a couple of days.
Starch or an adhesive is added to the slurry to help form a sludge that can be kneaded, much like atta in our homes!
This sludge is much like clay but lighter and stronger. Wer can make anything we like out of this, be it picture frames, pen stands, bowls, even statues!
Look at the statue of the goddess of learning Saraswati ji at Arya Niwas reception, it is a fine example of papier mache!
In our workshop, which is conducted by Ramawatar ji and / or his daughter; we make puppets / birds and / or masks!
The workshop is a lot of fun, but more than fun, it is also a gentle window on doing things differently and making sense of waste. All the sad news on what is wrong in the world, served daily in the morning through your newspaper, can be converted in to a bright little bird, to decorate your mantle piece for years to come!