Handmade Paper from Asia to Europe

The exhibition “Handmade Paper from Asia to Europe” presents, through 50 selected objects from the Triton & Shell Historical Archive and collection, key milestones in the history of paper, the technical development of its manufacture, its cultural significance, and its fundamental role in the formation and transmission of knowledge.

From first-century CE China and the spread of papermaking knowledge and techniques across Asia, to the emergence of the first European papermaking workshops in the thirteenth century and the gradual transition towards industrial production, the exhibition traces the history of paper through moulds, prints, books, and other historical material.

Among the exhibits are:

• The book Kamisuki Mura Kurotani (1970), dedicated to the Japanese tradition of handmade papermaking and described in existing sources as having received a “Most Beautiful Book in the World” distinction at the Frankfurt International Book Fair in 1972.
• Papermaking moulds from Asia, Europe, and America.
• Prints and illustrated material dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, documenting stages, tools, and techniques of traditional papermaking.

Through these objects, the exhibition evokes a period in which every sheet of paper was made by hand and served as a valuable carrier of writing, image, and knowledge, long before paper developed into a mass-produced material of everyday life.

The exhibition was the first to be presented at Triton & Shell and was organised to mark the inauguration and opening of the space.