MADAGASCAR: Antemoro Paper

Actually, the Antemoro people lives in Southeastern Madagascar, around Manakara and Farafangana. But in the southern highlands, in the middle of Ambalavao, there’s a small manufactory showing the process of producing the traditional paper of Antemoro. The paper itself is called Antaimoro and still today typically dipped by hand. Originally, the Antemoro descend from Arabians, who brought their knowledge of paper manufacturing with them over the sea. When their brought paper came to an end, the paper production in Madagascar began. The Sorabe (from Arabic sora for screed and Malagasy be for big) is the most famous document, which was written on Antaimoro. It contains the first textualisation of the Malagasy language.

For the paper, it is necessary to have wild mulberry trees, in Malagasy avoha. A part of the needed bark is delivered from Southeastern Madagascar, but the largest part comes from the area between Ambalavao and Fianarantosa. The bark is cut into slices and has to be cooked for six hours until becoming a brownish, greasy fibre mass. The workwoman search for black fibres and dirt crumbles by hand to make the paper later as clean and bright as possible. The cooked fibres are then „tenderized“ by beating them rhythmically with heavy wooden beaters. If the fibres were rather more a pasty mass on the table, the workwoman form heavy, brown chunks out oft he mass. Those weight about one pound and can be well transported and stored, which means you don’t need to process them directly.

The manufacturing continues on wooden frames, built only for this purpose and covered with large, rectangular, thin linen sheets on the bottom. The linen sheet acts as a kind of dipping strainer. Water is filled into the frames, and the workwoman begin to dissolve the bark chunks inside. The bark pulp needs to be distributed as smoothly and even as possible to get a good paper. If the workwoman is satisfied with the distribution of the pulp on the linen sheet, she lets the water flow out the frames. A wet, thin layer of pulp rests on the linen sheet now. With a metal pattern and some kind of scraper, the workwoman separates each piece of paper carefully from the others – if done like this, there’s no need to cut any paper later on, and the Antaimoro thus keeps its typical, natural looking borders. For decorative papers like bookmarks, a time-consuming detail work starts now: Freshly plucked, bright flowers and leaves are put one by one onto the wet paper. To finish the Antaimoro, all linen sheets are put into the sun on big racks to dry. After one or two days, the finished artpieces can be carefully solved from the linen, and there it is: Originally Antaimoro.

Besides the process of making the paper itself, Ambalavao also has a small manufactory, which creates small vanilla boxes, image frames, picture albums and other valuable Antaimoro products with raphia. Everything is made by hand, nothing goes at fast pace or without experience. Therefore the knowledge of paper manufactory and processing is still passed on from older to younger generations.

Ambalavao’s paper factory is open all week from sun dawn until sun set, it’s only closed for a break at noon between 11.30 a.m. and one o’clock p.m. Visits are free of charge, but if you like, you can give a tip to the workwomen or buy some Antaimoro stuff at the small shop next to the manufactory.