The Barichara Paper Workshop: turning Colombian fique fibre into art

The small colonial town of Barichara, in Colombia's Santander region, has for the past 25 years hosted one of the world's most respected centres for handmade paper production. The Barichara Paper Workshop was founded in 2001 by the Mexican artist Juan Manuel de la Rosa and has since specialised in artisanal paper production from natural fibres.

The project's origin story dates back to the early 2000s. De la Rosa was an artist who had travelled the world studying techniques for making paper from various natural fibres. When he arrived in Barichara, he was interested in studying the fibre of an agave-like plant called fique that the region had traditionally grown.

Fique is a plant grown in the Andes that has been traditionally used in Colombia for rope, sacks and saddle pads for Andean mules. De la Rosa's workshop showed that high-quality handmade paper suitable for art and painting could be made from fique fibre. This opened a new economic avenue for fique production.

The workshop opened in 2001 after restoring the derelict warehouse of the former Colombian Tabaco Company. Today, nine local women work there. The workshop contains four sections: a production floor, an exhibition gallery, a shop and a plant garden.

The paper-making process is carried out entirely by hand. First, the plant fibres are boiled and beaten, then placed in water to create a fibre suspension. A frame-shaped sieve is dipped into the suspension and slowly lifted out; the fibres interlock across the sieve. The paper is then pressed under weight to release water and dried naturally.

In addition to fique, the workshop also produces paper from pineapple leaves, aloe vera, papyrus and banana leaves. Each plant offers a distinctive texture, colour and aroma. The workshop's catalogue lists paper varieties from 47 different plant species.

The dyes used in the paper-making process are also entirely natural. Indigo (for blue), curcumin (for yellow), añil (for purple), Brazilian wood (for red) and iron minerals for brown. Many of these natural dyes are harvested from the workshop's own garden; the rest is sourced from Barichara's local markets.

The workshop's products are sought after by artists. Colombian painter Beatriz González told Atlas Obscura: 'Barichara paper has a unique texture. It's ideal for watercolour work; it absorbs and holds pigment simultaneously.' The workshop produces around 60,000 sheets a year.

The project also serves as an important local-economy model. Women working at the workshop earn around 1.8 times the average income for the Barichara region. The workshop also runs programmes in local schools, teaching paper-making skills to young people.

The workshop is open to visitors Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm. For 15,000 Colombian pesos (about $4) a 90-minute tour is offered; during the tour visitors get to make their own sheet of paper. The workshop's papers are sold in art galleries in Bogotá and Cartagena and in the workshop's online shop. It is a living example of Latin America's handmade paper tradition, and part of Colombia's 'Pueblos Patrimonio' (Heritage Villages) network.