Zachary Bombardier – Contributor

On Friday, Oct. 3, papermaking enthusiasts and DIYers gathered in Molson 110 to participate in a lecture on Japanese-style papermaking by Alexandre Bonton, a professor at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent in Montreal. The lecture was hosted by the Bishop’s University Fine Arts Department. 

As a researcher specializing in water and environmental management, Bonton’s lecture not only taught the methods of Japanese papermaking, distinguishing it from other styles such as those from Europe or America, but also promoted creativity and waste reduction. Participants were encouraged to pay greater attention to the world around them, especially to plants, and to find novel, unwasteful ways to use this world in the things they make. Knowing your environment and utilizing it were as much pillars of the lecture as learning the methods of Japanese-style papermaking. Altogether, Bonton implicitly asked attendees to take a compassionate and observant attitude towards the world, an attitude reminiscent of the Zen traditions of Japan. 

Although bamboo is an essential material in the Japanese papermaking process, Bonton noted during the lecture that it “was not part of the identity of the place in which [he] found [himself].” True to his word, his attention to the identity of a place drew him away from the natural resources of Japan and toward three plants integral to Quebec’s flora: the milkweed, the American elm and the Siberian elm. Borrowing from Winifred Lutz, a fiber artist and papermaker, Bonton used her research to process these native Quebecois resources. The ready-to-use fibers could then be processed using Japanese techniques. The results were incredible. Some of his papers were like gossamer: thin, delicate and translucent. Others were nearly indistinguishable from the office paper we’re so used to. There was a murmur of amazement as the paper samples were passed from person to person. 

Alongside Bonton’s attention to the resources offered by the environment, a DIY ethos pervaded his lecture. Mallets, mats and frames made from wood lay before the audience, each crafted by Bonton. His lecture slides, faithful to each step of the process, were a testament to his ingenuity. They moved from photos of him in milkweed fields, to him making wooden frames and metallic pieces and finally to a wood press he created to dry paper. His slides also included some of his failures, such as an incident involving too much glue. Bonton is truly a scientist. He is experimental, curious and relentless. Attendees could not help but be fascinated and were energetic notetakers, photographers and question-askers, engrossed as much by his successes as by his failures. 

To see native flora stretched, stripped and pressed until it is paper reminds one of a great alchemical transformation, inspiring in its craftiness and sensitivity to the world around us. Likewise, as the art of Japanese papermaking takes root in Quebec, it too transforms and takes on a new life, altered by everything the Quebec environment has to offer.