Indigenous Bookmaking and Printing Workshop, West Sikkim, India

Hidden Stories research associate Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia is organising a workshop to share Indigenous knowledge about paper and ink making and printing using traditional and sustainable methods and materials. Historically, communities in Sikkim made paper from local trees and ink from corn, and circulated manuscripts through copying and woodblock printing. In the last century, there have been significant changes to these technologies, with the introduction of mass produced paper from paper mills, synthetic cloth used for prayer flags, and toxic inks; and local languages including Lhokyed (Bhutia) and Rong (Lepcha) have been marginalised by the use of English which has led to a decline in publishing and book production in these languages. In the fall, Bhutia will work with students in Sikkim to print using traditional methods. The workshop will allow for students to be exposed to this Indigenous knowledge and also encourage reflection on sustainability, local language reclamation, and making relationships between humans and more-than-humans in the environment. The workshops, for local students and community in Western Sikkim, are planned for the fall of 2024, with a future companion event tentatively planned for Himalayan diasporic communities living in Toronto.