Hello! I am Pratip, a scientist working in Kaiserslautern in the western part of Germany. I am also a passionate kite hobbyist and kite collector. I am originally from India and I spend several months there every year. When I am in India I pursue my passion for kite flying quite often. In India we have a very old culture and tradition of colorful handcrafted kites. There are very few master kite artisans left from the older generations. I have heard from the master kite makers that in the past there was high quality tissue papers imported from Germany and Austria to India. Those papers are considered the most ideal paper for making beautiful kites. I have personally seen classic kites as old as 40-50 years but the German paper in those kites is still shining with bright colors.
Currently I am looking for high quality tissue paper in as many different and uncommon colors as possible so that I can buy some from Germany and bring to India in order to collaborate with our master kite makers to create some awesome, beautiful kites.
Indian Kites
Handcrafted with paper cutting and pasting
Background Reference about Kite craftsmanship in India
Some documentaries about master kite makers from India
Requirements
strong, dense texture but lightweight with beautiful colors
What I am looking for
I am looking for premium quality tissue paper with beautiful shades of colors, texture and strength. The less amount of light can pass/permeate through the paper is better. The tissue paper will be used to make colorful kites so the paper can not be too thick and heavy.
Paper Qualities
- The ideal weight range of the papers should be between 19-25 g/qm
- The color of tissue paper should be as long lasting as possible because a kite can be 20-30 years old when kept in collection
- Also the color should not fade easily from exposure to sunlight
- The paper should be delivered with minimum folding so that the paper does not get folding marks.
Below is a list of products I found in the internet.
Paper weight (25 g/qm)
- Silk paper link
- VIVANT Strohseide, Einzelfarben (Format 50 cm x 70 cm) link link2
- Faserseide Silk, Bogen link
- Stabiles, glänzendes Drachen- oder Wachspapier “Pergamin”/Glassine Papers link
