Monday 29 June 2009

Ghandi's Paper - Kalamkhush

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I made this exciting discovery on the last day of my visit to Ahmedabad back in the spring. Ghandhi's philosophies on hand spinning and weaving cotton are well known, but it is perhaps a little less known that he also encouraged the hand making of paper. This small factory opposite the Ghandhi Ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad uses waste products such as textile scraps to create it's fabulous artisan papers .

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The site itself is inspiring a campus of ancient warehouses that seem to date from Victorian times, you are free to wander from building to building witnessing huge piles and washing lines of drying papers.

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Finally walking through another industrial loft, wishing I could transport it back to London to create my own often dreamt of live/work space, I came to the shop. Of course I could have easily bought up half the stock, but realizing that my case was well over weight. I had to be satisfied with a few writing pads and some cute files !


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