Papier Mache originated in China. Hundreds of years ago the Chinese made projects from it which they hardened with layers of lacquer. Papier Mache is great craft for all ages. Papier Mache is a great recycle craft. Papier-Mache masks use waste paper pulp as the basic raw material, sometimes combined with starch. The paper pulp is then given various forms and shapes, limited only by the imagination of the artist. A wooden mould, which applies pressure on the pulp shapes the pulp to form beautiful art items. Artists typically use this form of sculpture to form various figures and masks of men, women and Gods and Goddesses. Indian Papier-mache masks using wooden moulds give a very fine finish as compared to the tribal form of papier-mache sculpting which uses no moulds and hence are rough in finish.
...nations all over the world have a cultural past, which is inseparably linked to masks making them a universal phenomenon... The Mask forms a silent language which is universally understood and which defines the essence of human expressions and emotions at various levels - spiritual, religious and material... When not trapped in the stereotypes of being "hypocritical guises" or "camouflaged farces", masks reflect the innocence of the primitive people of the world... Masks can be thought of as having been created by our ancestors to form a bridge between the outer phenomenal world and the inner person…
