In December and early January, Kolaj Institute Coordinator Christopher Kurts led the third iteration of the Collage & Poetry residency and guided 11 artists from Bangladesh, Turkey and the US in collaborative activities, research and discussion, and understanding the technical needs of design and layout necessary to submit page spreads to PoetryXCollage. Ric Kasini Kadour spoke about artist practice, the book as a place for collage, and how Kolaj Institute works to diffuse collage and poetry. Rod T. Boyer creates art and poetry under the moniker our thomas, exploring themes of redemption, mystery, and transformation. In Kolaj #32, his article, “Mind the Gap,” explored how collage and haiku share similar mechanisms of juxtaposition and disjunction. He spoke to these themes during the residency. (image by Ayse Derin Ergenc)

at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA through 8 March 2025. This exhibition features the work of four artists who visualize the cacophonous experiences of memory-making and recall through their collage-like practices. Felipe Baeza, Ori Gersht (image), Simonette Quamina, and Maika’i Tubbs each integrates various materials and techniques to create art objects that are physically, visually, and conceptually layered. In the resulting works, forms continually appear and disappear, raising questions about how certain figures and narratives fade in and out of conscious memory. Composed of numerous distinct elements, these works draw attention to the interweaving of selective memories that contribute to experiences of migration, formations of identity, and senses of belonging. Curated by Elissa Watters.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Judith Pelgrom writes, "It is fascinating to create collage art with existing imagery and contribute to the sustainability of storytelling through images. It’s a meditative process and once in that state, the only thing that exists is flow. Creating any independent artwork consists of immersing myself in a visually dynamic process. I am able to start the creative process, from which the composition within the artwork becomes a new whole from the constituent parts."

As part of a year-long investigation of castles as buildings, metaphors, and systems of power, Kolaj Institute hosted a month-long virtual artist residency in November and December 2024 focused on castles and the space they occupy in our contemporary imagination. The residency built on the work done by artists in Collage Artist Residency: Scotland and New Orleans where artists explored feudal castle systems, manor houses, and plantations as buildings, metaphors, and systems of power. Artists in the virtual residency attended from Canada, England, Scotland and the US. (image by Yujia Jin)

at the University of Warsaw Library Gallery in Warsaw, Poland through 19 January 2025. “Adhesions: International Exhibition of Collage in Artbooks and Artzines” showcases a broad spectrum of collage techniques used by artists working in book art, zines, and visual poetry. It introduces the audience to the work of artists from around the world–from Japan, through Germany and Portugal, to Latin America. A diverse range of personalities is represented, drawing from a rich array of influences: from local artistic traditions, through Dadaist experiments in the spirit of Kurt Schwitters, to contemporary independent publications in grunge style. Nearly 200 objects are on display in the gallery, including original, hand-crafted collages, art zines, art books, and digital collages. Work is by thirty-five artists from fourteen countries and twelve independent publishers. Curated by Anna Kłos, PhD and Miguel Correia and organized by the University of Warsaw Library Promotion Department and Retroavangarda.

London, England, United Kingdom. Melina Merlin writes, "My work is centered around the intersectionality of my gender, sexual orientation, Afro-Mexican-Greek heritages, and current experiences while maintaining a connection to my ancestry. As a social justice activist, I use narrative figurative drawing to incorporate memories, histories, and magic realism. I document and reimagine my life experiences to elevate the stature and prestige of women and their lives while challenging existing power structures."

Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Jennifer Lentfer's collage and poetry are focused on rebuilding culture, as well as honoring lineage and community. Lentfer's people are the people of the Great Plains, the horizon, the 360-degree view. They are the people of four seasons and four-part harmony. They are resolute, resourceful, and stubborn descendants of German settlers to south-central Nebraska, who benefitted from the Homestead Act to occupy land stolen from the Pawnee people. Lentfer believes if we can claim our own personal, devastating truths, we can take bolder action together. Her work attempts to assure us all of grace and create intentional opportunities for community dialogue.

Want to see your collage BIG? For a $50 donation to support Kolaj Institute, we'll print one of your collages on a 24"x36" piece of paper—an opportunity to scale up your work and help elevate collage as a medium in the contemporary art world! Your donation helps fund programs like our gallery exhibitions, artist residencies, and educational workshops that support and grow the global collage community.

The Big Print Fundraiser ends 31 December 2024! Make your donation today and get your BIG PRINT! 

Early Deadline to Apply: Monday, 30 December 2024. A month-long, virtual/online collage artist residency in January and February 2025. What can collage artists do to counter rising authoritarianism? During this residency, collage artists will work together to make artwork that responds to a global rise in authoritarianism. They will explore the history of political collage and its early 20th century roots in the European anti-facist movements. They will learn how to read and decode authoritarianism, to understand how it operates, and strategies for resisting or countering it. Discussions and presentations will center on how an artist can make work that picks up the unfinished work of history and contributes to the civic discourse. The Residency is led by Ric Kasini Kadour. Artists will hear from Guest Speakers Martin Mycielski, the Vice-President and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Open Dialogue Foundation, and G.E. Vogt, who will talk about how 21st century collage artists make political collage. Artists in the residency will work together to illustrate and elucidate Mycielski's The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide.

DEADLINE: Early deadline to apply: Monday, 30 December 2024. The Collage in Practice Workshop is designed to give artists a working understanding of artist practice and how this understanding informs approaches to professional and artistic development. Participants will finish the workshop with a deeper understanding of their practice; a strong statement of practice that can be used to communicate with curators, editors, and art professionals; a portfolio of artwork (or a plan to make one); and tools for growing or developing their practice.

Collage in Practice is part of Kolaj Institute's Artist Development Program, a collection of three core workshops for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop and expand their collage-based artist practice and work towards professional goals, particularly in the areas of exhibitions and publishing.