Who "The Forge" Are You?

Hey there! I’m Henri Papier, a creative soul with a love for all things imaginative and artistic. Born and bred in the heart of the Copperbelt, Zambia (seriously, Google it—it’s an amazing country!), I’ve found my way to Lusaka, where I live, work, and hammer out ideas as a creative professional.

My love for art started way back, and video games poured rocket fuel on that passion. Those cinematic cutscenes? Completely mesmerizing! When it was time to pick a career path, the choice was clear: animation was my calling.

In 2010, I packed my bags and headed to Cape Town, South Africa, to attend The Animation School. For three exciting years, I soaked up everything about the animation process—storytelling, design, and all the nitty-gritty that brings visuals to life. After graduating, I had the privilege of working with Flick for a year, where I gained hands-on industry experience and discovered just how thrilling it is to create magic through motion.

In 2014, I returned to Zambia—because, let’s face it, work permits as a Zambian aren’t exactly a walk in the park! I was eager to dive into my animation career with the skills I had gained, but here’s where I hit my first big hurdle: Zambia didn’t have an animation industry. No problem, though—I’m all about adapting!

During my downtime, I explored photography, which seemed to be the one creative outlet I could actually break into. So, I launched “That Zed Photographer” and it turned out to be a pretty solid move. Along the way, I made tons of valuable connections in various industries that would later benefit my career.

In 2016, things took an unexpected turn when I was invited to join Kazuma Enterprises as a Market Developer for their beverage distribution. It was a shift, but I figured it’d be a great change of pace. Two years later, I was promoted to Regional Manager for the Copperbelt Operations. This chapter was full of growth—learning to manage teams, timelines, and expectations, and seeing things from a different angle. But despite all the new skills, something was missing.

Around the time COVID was in full swing, I made a decision: it was time to leave my job. The creative itch was too strong—I was always distracted by the incredible content I was seeing everywhere. So, in 2021, I packed up, moved to Lusaka, and took the leap to start The Forge.

If you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with me! I’m aiming to post at least once a month, depending on how hectic my schedule gets, and I’m excited to share more of my journey with you.