From ceramics reviews over the past few months to re-cycled paper, the artisan lives on! Read further about a fine example of a small business that has gone from strength to strength, just 15 years from inception and have ‘hit’ the big-time!
SARASWATI PAPERS fifteen years old & getting stronger!
The Balinese believe the Hindu Goddess Saraswati personifies the arts, beauty, truth & knowledge in all its forms. She is associated with the best in human culture: poetry, literature, rituals, & rational communication between individuals, and so, Saraswati Papers was born.
And Saraswati, has achieved their goal! – with fifteen years experience of reliable manufacturing means that the company can offer personalized service on a broad range of earth-friendly products crafted in village workshops in Bali, ideal for retail, wholesale & corporate merchandise. A producer of eco-friendly paper & associated products, for artistic hand-made recycled papers with other renewable & locally sourced materials, hand-crafted contemporary & uniquely-designed products of choice.
Kali Sari, founder of Saraswati Papers was always taking on creative pursuits. As a professionally trained chef, she worked with the sensual creation & presentation of food in various countries. Her interest in cuisine & the world eventually led her to Bali where she adopted this magical island as her new home in the early eighties.
Kali recognized that Bali was struggling with ever-increasing pollution caused by a growing & modernizing society. With this concern & a life-long interest in all things paper, she started to put her kitchen blender to new use & began to experiment making handcrafted paper from recycled materials. The joy & passion she had for food & their colors, taste, texture including the art of recipe development, was now applied to creating beautiful & organic paper. A paper-making course later & with the support of the Wisnu Foundation (a non-profit foundation concerned with the conservation of the Balinese environment), Saraswati Papers was born in May 1995.
Kali worked out of her kitchen at home initially for the first six months, & enlisted a team of Balinese village women to learn the skillful art of papermaking. The methods used were the ancient & traditional process of blending, dipping & pressing sheets of paper by hand & hanging it out to dry. The result was exceptional hand-crafted paper. Soon after, her first order was taken, orders followed, the rest is now history!
Through word of mouth, this cottage-industry business was born. It became a business that allowed the opportunity to provide a sustainable trade & income to local women while also reducing the trash influx in Bali.
Each folio of hand-made paper is made using 100% post consumer recycled paper collected from schools, offices, hotels (9 hotels in all that send their used paper products back to Saraswati to re-cycle) & homes around the isle.
The papers & products are handmade, from start to finish, the paper is slightly colored, using natural dyes taken from the earth, roots & leaves, & is textured with the addition of sustainable plant fibers such as bamboo & flower petals. No chemicals or bleaches are used at any stage of the paper making process, only natural dyes & other sustainable plant additives such as flower petals & bamboo. Textured, colored, & timeless, the variations & irregularities, which occur in the products are a reflection of the art itself & distinguish Saraswati Papers as a handmade product of environmental integrity.
Over the years the cottage business has become a boutique business in that the specialty of Saraswati Papers is the team’s ability to create & adapt designs & products to a customer’s specific needs. The standards are high quality with attention to detail, & incorporate handmade paper that is silk screened along with laminated cotton paper that is also made in the studio. The result, a wide range of earth friendly products & finishes that are luxurious & beautiful.
Using recycled paper means you care! While much of the world is finally waking up to the reality of the planet’s diminishing resources, Saraswati Papers has been making a difference for more than a decade. In Bali they work with private individuals, businesses, & schools to recycle their paper waste. In addition, a portion of all greeting card proceeds are donated to the local charitable work of BaliKindergartenProject.org, demonstrating commitment to future generations of Bali.
Saraswati Papers open their workshop to group tours (once a month for school students) with a focus on enlisting young people to change the way they think about rubbish – how to reduce, reuse & recycle & encourages visitors to become hands-on with the process.
With just over 30 local women, Saraswati Papers offers a service for, photography, graphic design & printing for all styles of printed collateral. They are often commissioned for hand printed books, like the recently illustrious book, ‘A Gift from Your Family’ commissioned by the Obama family, to present to Mr Barak Obama and his family when next in Indonesia. Saraswati Papers have been approached by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco for a Bali Exhibition on Artisans and their ongoing work with the Mars Incorporated, USA, on the My Cocoa Paper account (M & M) for all their collateral.
Saraswati Papers has come a long way in 15 years and now, the tough times have passed, and now they have a speciality retail store called Kardo, full of their beautiful works located on Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud, phone 886 3338. Congratulations Kali and the Saraswati Team!
Saraswati Papers
Jalan Raya Batu Belig 100
Kerobokan Bali Indonesia
tel +62 361 736 418
E-mail: info@saraswatipapers.com
www.saraswatipapers.com
www.mycocoapaper.com
For comments & inquiries, email: retailtherapym@yahoo.com.au
