Hilonee K Shah enjoys being in her small, “messy” studio attached to her home in Mattancherry. The well lit, verandah-like space is where she finds peace and solace, says Hilonee, who makes her handcrafted paper products here. Papier Culture, her company, specialises in products made of recycled paper. 

Hilonee K Shah, founder of Papier Culture | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

What started as a Covid-19 time hobby blossomed into a business, says Hilonee, who spent the following weeks researching, experimenting and studying paper making. “I am a person who loves anything handmade; especially handmade paper. So, one day, when I was at home in Kochi, I tried making it. The next day I made some more, and it went on. I found that making paper had a therapeutic effect on me,” she says. 

Hilonee who was pursuing her college education in Mumbai came back to Kochi after her course and started spending more time on her hobby. “I was always curious about the paper trail. Where does all the paper we use in a day end up? Most of it is burnt or thrown into landfills. That was the starting point,” she says. “I wanted to explore how we can consciously repurpose used paper.” And that led to Papier Culture, which today makes delightfully textured handmade paper and sustainable stationery such as seed pens and pencils. “By recycling and reusing we can give paper a new life and help reduce the impact of waste on the environment,” Hilonee adds. 

She does most of the work herself — from collecting old newspaper, shredding it, soaking it, blending it into a pulp and then pressing it into paper. The sheets are then hung out to dry.  

When sorting newspapers and notebooks that she has collected, she puts aside blank pages she finds in the notebooks, which are bound to make little notebooks and are donated to children in need. The used pages and the newspapers are then shredded in a paper shredder and soaked in water. 

“It is a process that takes time. Each sheet of paper is done separately. But the fact that you are creating something entirely new out of all that waste paper is truly inspiring,” says Hilonee.

Seed pens and pencils by Papier Culture | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The sustainability aspect apart, Hilonee is also part of the revival of the age old tradition of paper making. Her Deepavali cards are letterpressed, a technique of printing that is fast becoming extinct. It involves repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against individual sheets of paper. “I wanted to bring back this ancient tradition of printing through these cards, so I sent the handmade paper and got the cards letterpressed in a printing press in Nagaland.

Letterpressed Deepavali cards by Papier Culture | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A social media manager by profession, Hilonee makes paper in her free time. She undertakes corporate orders as well. Papier Culture is taking orders for calendars for 2025.

@papierculture on Instagram.