The Ada Beater: Improving the Quality of Handmade Paper in Ghana
Michael Adashie 
,George Kushiator and Bertha Ayim
Issue: Vol.4 No.10 Article 13 pp.1307 – 1319
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202341013 | Published online 31st October, 2023
© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Handmade paper has been around for centuries. In Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world, the means of creating handmade paper depend largely on traditional equipment and other industrial machines. In Ghana, the means of creating handmade paper is through a tedious process of hand beating the bast fiber of the Kyenkyen tree. This resulted in the production of a proto-paper known as the bark cloth. This traditional method has almost become extinct with the influx of imported industrial papers. Therefore the purpose of this study was to seek a solution to this problem through the possible design and fabrication of a paper pulp-making machine daubed the Ada Beater. Thus getting vital tools for making art, print, and papermaking. The paper explored practice-based research methodology to fabricate a papermaking machine known as the Ada Beater. The results showed that the machine can be fabricated and made to produce improved papers of archival quality derived from various plant sources in Ghana. It is recommended that this homegrown know-how should be made available to artists and art teachers for the teaching and use of handmade paper for artistic purposes.
Keywords: Beater, Fibrillation, Flocculate, Roller, Blades, Maceration, Pulp
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Michael Adashie (PhD candidate) is a Lecturer in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. He holds an MFA in Painting. He is an Educator in Painting, Print, and Papermaking with over 20 years of university teaching and mentoring.
George Kushiator (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Coordinator at the Department of Communication Design, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. He holds postgraduate degrees in Art and Design.
Bertha Ayim (MAPPE/PhD candidate) is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication Design, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. She is an expert in Practice-based Research Methodology, Film, Animation and Motion Photography.
Adashie, Michael, Kushiator George & Ayim, Bertha. “The Ada Beater: Improving the Quality of Handmade Paper in Ghana.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 4, no.10 (2023): 1307 -1319. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202341013
© 2023 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
