Sunday, Sept 26th at 5pm EST: Cultural Substrates as Paper panel
virtual North American Hand Papermakers Fluid Practices conference
Tia Blassingame (she/her) and Stephanie Sauer (she/her) with Alisa Banks (she/her), Rhiannon Skye Tafoya (she/her), Karen Kahe Charley (she/her), and Dr. Lea S. McChesney (she/her)
In considering the fluid nature of paper, our panel seeks to open a conversation around what paper is across cultures. What happens, for example, if we broaden our understanding of the forms of papermaking that have been ignored in favor of Western and Eastern traditions? What happens when we consider this substrate as a vessel for collective memory, as a body, as a site of meaning, or even as an ancestor? While many of us think of paper as sheets fashioned from fibrous pulp, our panel will reexamine the materials used as substrates in specific cultural contexts, consider the vital role these substrates might play in a community, and share how meaning is made from what we might call paper and papermaking. Our geographical focus will be the Americas, a place that is often credited with having no papermaking traditions beyond that of amatl bark paper in Mexico. To open this dialogue, we have invited and confirmed participation from Alisa Banks, who will discuss reading the African American quilt making tradition as a papermaking tradition while showcasing her own artist's books, emerging artist Rhiannon Skye Tafoya, who will address Cherokee weaving as a vital substrate in her most recent artist book, and potter Karen K. Charley (Hopi) and scholar Dr. Lea S. McChesney, who will challenge us to consider clay as a substrate similar to paper in Hopi pottery.