musa - pseudostem to paper

designer in residence
8th life panama
anton, cocle, panama

this residency was a self-directed exploration of banana pseudostem fibres and their potential uses within a rural panamanian eco-village context. this material exploration resulted in light shades made from banana pseudostem paper and cord along with scrap metal wire.

the idea of the work came from taking my foundational knowledge of natural fibre paper making developed during my work with nettles and whilst at my studio tuck-tite residency and wanting to work with local natural materials, 8th life panama is the beginnings of a new eco-village, focussing on permaculture and self sustaining practices. i wanted to make something experimental but also useful for the ongoing project. once, the idea of banana paper was formed then it was about applications. the bunkhouse accomodation just had bare bulbs hanging and the paper seemed the perfect solution.

the final design was inspired by the form of the banana blossoms. i wanted to take further inspiration from their beautiful colours but unfortunately early natural dying experiments using the blossoms themselves failed and with limited time, focus had to be on finishing the project.