This episode celebrates four incredible craftsmen who use the seemingly humble paper as an instrument to express abstraction, heritage and love for family. We begin our journey in China, the birthplace of paper to meet Mao Shengli, the inheritor of the Xuan Paper making tradition. This unique paper is made exclusively for painting and calligraphy and possesses astonishing ability to absorb ink, creating astraction when the two meet. In Malaysia, some of the world’s largest and most beautiful kites are produced in the province of Kelantan, and it is here that Wan Anuar has been weaving magic with paper all his life. Wan is among a rare group of Malaysian master kite-makers who have dedicated their lives to breathing life into this ancient but vanishing craft.

Over in London, Peter Bellerby wanted to send a globe to his father as his 80th birthday gift, so he decided to integrate traditional production techniques and his own ideas to make a globe. Today, Bellerby & Co is one of only two handcrafted globe production companies in the world and even Martin Scorsese commissions them to make globes for his films. In Mexico City, Leonardo Linares practices his grandfather’s tradition of making papier-mâché sculptures that have been recognized as works of art from luminaries like Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo. He is the proud inheritor of his family’s most lasting contribution to the craft of papier mache - the creation of the famous alebrijes.