Antemoro Paper: 700 Years of Flowers Pressed in Paper

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By Jordan Lamont · Last updated 7 October 2026

Say it like a local: avoha (a-VOO-ha) — the bark shrub; taratasy (ta-ra-TAH-see) — paper.

Pick up a sheet of Antemoro paper and you are holding something closer to a pressed-flower keepsake than to ordinary stationery: thick, fibrous, the colour of pale straw, with real bougainvillea and jacaranda blossoms sealed inside it. It is one of Madagascar’s most beloved crafts — and its back-story runs from sacred Arabic manuscripts on the southeast coast to the busy workshops of a highland market town.

Paper that began as scripture

The craft is named for the Antemoro people of Madagascar’s southeast, and it did not start as a souvenir. The technique — likely introduced by early Arab migrants — was developed to produce Sorabe, the sacred Arabic-script manuscripts in which Antemoro sages recorded astrology, medicine and religious knowledge. For centuries, this handmade paper was the medium of the island’s most guarded learning. Only much later did it become the decorative art travellers know today.

From the southeast coast to Ambalavao

The paper’s modern home is not the coast but the highlands. In 1936 the technique was brought to Ambalavao, a market town on the RN7 south of Fianarantsoa famous for its zebu market, and there it flourished into a cottage industry. Today Ambalavao’s paper workshops are a fixture of the southern-highlands travel route, where you can watch every stage of production in a single visit.

How a sheet is made

The process is patient and entirely by hand. Workers strip the inner bark of the avoha shrub and boil it for hours until it softens, then beat it into a fine pulp. The pulp is mixed with water and spread evenly across a cloth stretched on a wooden frame. While the sheet is still wet, artisans press fresh local flowers and leaves — bougainvillea, jacaranda — into the surface by hand, then set the frames out to dry in the sun. The result is strong, slightly papyrus-like, and no two sheets are the same.

A craft that keeps a region working

Antemoro paper is now one of Madagascar’s signature handmade goods, turned into cards, journals, lampshades and framed art and sold across the country. Its appeal is honest: it is genuinely local, genuinely handmade, and genuinely useful, and buying it directly from a workshop puts money straight into a highland craft economy. If you want a souvenir that carries a real story rather than a factory label, this is it — see our guide to buying authentic crafts in Madagascar.

Why it matters today

Antemoro paper links three things travellers rarely connect: the Arabic-script scholarship of the southeast, the zebu-market highlands of the RN7, and the souvenir on a hotel desk. Visiting a workshop in Ambalavao turns a roadside stop into a window on all of it. Fit it into a central-highlands leg of your trip, and plan the route with our Madagascar travel guide.

FAQ

What is Antemoro paper made from?

The inner bark of the avoha shrub, boiled soft, beaten to a pulp, spread on cloth frames and decorated with real pressed flowers before drying in the sun.

Why is it called “Antemoro”?

It is named for the Antemoro people of the southeast coast, who developed the craft — originally to make Sorabe, their sacred Arabic-script manuscripts.

Where can you see it made?

Chiefly in Ambalavao in the southern highlands, where the technique was brought in 1936 and is now a living workshop industry open to visitors.

What is it used for today?

Flower-pressed stationery, journals, lampshades, cards and artwork — one of Madagascar’s most emblematic handmade souvenirs.