PROJECT OVERVIEW

Folklore Collage Society emerged through a series of artist residencies in Sanquhar, Scotland; Knoxville, Tennessee; and online, where artists considered how, during a time when folklore is devalued by economic systems and dismissed by political power, artists play an important role in calling attention to and celebrating these important elements that shape community identity and reinforce communal ties. In times of crisis and collective trauma, these stories can be key to a community’s sense of resilience and ultimate survival. These residencies resulted in the exhibitions, “Mythical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” at the Knoxville Museum of Art and “Word of Mouth: Folklore, Collage, & Community” at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland and the publication of Folklore of the Upper Nithsdale.

Other initiatives like the exhibition and book, Magic in the Modern World, propose a way to think about magic in the 21st century, what it means to communities, and how it negotiates itself in systems of power. Gain of Function: New Mutations/Old Traditions/Collective Effervescence speaks to the role of art, ritual, and resilience. The exhibition and book, Big Orange Monster, while conceived as part of Kolaj Institute’s Politics in Collage project, drew in a number of artists whose work was speaking to folklore.

In Fall 2025, Kolaj Institute will publish Volume One of Folklore Collage Society to create a space for documenting and sharing folklore and collage art about folklore. The printed, periodic journal takes inspiration from The Folklore Society (founded in London, England, 1878) and The American Folklore Society (founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1888), whose century and a half of work have made it possible for 21st century artists to engage this subject.

In addition to the periodic journal, Folklore Collage Society manifests as artist residencies; articles in Kolaj Magazine; programs at Kolaj Fest New Orleans and Kolaj LIVE Online; and exhibitions.

PUBLICATION

Magic in the Modern World

“In our scientifically-minded modern world, little room is left for the the mystical, the esoteric, and the magical, but we contend that such things, irrational as they may be, are fundamental to the human experience and necessary liminal spaces in which people experience joy, process trauma, or otherwise work through complicated emotions that a rationalistic society is not set up to handle, if it doesn’t actively reject them.” Taking a broad view of magic and drawing from multiple histories, Magic in the Modern World, proposes a way to think about magic in the 21st century, what it means to communities, and how it negotiates itself in systems of power. Generously illustrated, the book features the artwork of fifteen collage artists and dozens of historical images. The book asks, What role can artists play in nurturing and supporting magic traditions? Ric Kasini Kadour wrote, “Through our artwork, we can share stories, demystify histories, reinforce ancestral or community connections, and celebrate magical practices in ways that are safe, comfortable, and legible. We can make visible cosmologies other than those of the prevailing culture and hold space for alternative worldviews. At various times, such work can be profound acts of resistance, caring, or celebration. With its history of surrealism, collage in particular lends itself to this work.”

CALL TO ARTISTS

Carnival as Folklore Artist Residency

Early Deadline to Apply: 14 December 2025.

Carnival as Folklore is a five-day, in-person collage artist residency at Kolaj Institute in New Orleans, 25-30 January 2026. Carnival’s traditions are rooted in ancient European festivals. Its 19th-century revival in the Americas parallels a time when people were rediscovering and reveling in Greek and Roman Mythology. As such, carnival is dripping with folklore. No place does Carnival like New Orleans, where the city comes alive in a mass display of collective effervescence. During this in-person Artist Residency, collage artists will be invited to spend a week in New Orleans investigating Carnival as folklore and making art about it. Taking a broad view of collage and rooted in an understanding of Artist Practice, artists will hear a working theory of folklore; what it is; how it functions in communities; and the role artists can play in activating, transmitting, and celebrating folklore in communities as a form of cultural expression and a strategy for community resilience.

EXHIBITION

Magic in the Modern World

1 June to 11 August 2024 at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans.

The exhibition shows the work of collage artists who visited New Orleans and explored magic as a cultural idea, an ancestral tradition, a construct used by power to subjugate, and as a practice used by others to resist colonization and capitalism. Writer Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” While Clarke was looking backwards, the artwork in this exhibition considers the role of magic in our contemporary, modern communities and what role it may play in the future. Artwork in this exhibition speaks to honoring ancestors; tapping cultural magic; cosmology and life building; the power of womanhood; the quietude of modern magic; the practice of offerings and rituals; magical colors; spirit animals; magic in the diaspora; punishment of magic and the persecution of witches; and care for spiritual beings. Also included in this exhibition was the off-site installation, A Memorial to Witches of Dumfries by Jennifer Evans in the New Orleans Healing Center Great Hall.

Image: Ritual on the Mississippi River by Ihosvany Plasencia (14.5″x10″; collage on book cover; 2023

RESIDENCY

Collage Magic

New Orleans. October & December 2023.

Collage Magic Artist Residency was a series of five-day, in-person collage artist residencies in New Orleans in which artists explored contemporary art that referenced magic, altar making, and ritual practice; took a walking tour of New Orleans; and explored the city as an archive of magic. Artists made artwork for an exhibition and book. The residencies took place in October and December 2023. Partcipating artists included: Alexandra Montclair (Astoria, New York, USA) | Alicia Zapata (Chicago, Illinois, USA) | Ariya Aladjem Wolf (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) | Bridgette Bramlage (Chicago, Illinois, USA) | Caroline Alterman (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) | Debi A Barton Haverly (Springfield, Vermont, USA) | Ihosvany Plasencia (Miami, Florida, USA) | Jenn Arras (Brooklyn, New York, USA) | Jennifer Lai (Brooklyn, New York, USA) | Johanna Merfeld (Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA) | Julia Arredondo (Newcastle, Maine, USA) | Lela Goldstein (Scottsdale, Arizona, USA) | Marie-Pier Lopes-C (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) | Peace. (Houston, Texas, USA) | Rodney Boone (San Pedro, California, USA) | S. Erin Batiste (Brooklyn, New York, USA) | Tracy Casagrande Clancy (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) | Vanessa L Moore (East Orange, New Jersey, USA)

Image: Gifts to Ghosts 1 by Ariya Aladjem Wolf (11″x8.5″; collage on printmaking paper; 2023)

EXHIBITION

Word of Mouth: Folklore, Collage, & Community

At A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland, United Kingdom. September 2023

In response to the “Mythical Landscape” exhibition, a group of artists made artwork about folklore that was important to them. This work was on view at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar during the month of September 2023. Curator Ric Kasini Kadour said, “In sharing this artwork, our hope is that viewers will develop a sense of how folklore moves through the world and the role it plays in building and maintaining communities. While the art on view is not about Sanquhar, our hope is that by exhibiting the artwork in Sanquhar we can put the rich folklore of Sanquhar in conversation with folklore from around the world.” Participating artists included: Sarah Cowling (London, Ontario, Canada) | Eli Craven (Lafayette, Indiana, USA) | Indira Govindan (Chennai, Tamilnadu, India) | CoCo Harris (Greenville, South Carolina, USA) | Danielle Iemola-Devereux (Austin, Texas, USA) | Clare Jones (Ithaca, New York, USA) | Ric Kasini Kadour (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA & Montreal, Quebec, Canada) | Christopher Kurts (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) | Okja Kwon (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) | Bella LaMontagne (Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, USA) | Charlotte K Larson (Brooklyn, New York, USA) | Jennifer Lentfer (Omaha, Nebraska, USA) | Elaine Luther (Forest Park, Illinois, USA) | Carol M Lynch (Metairie, Louisiana, USA) | Claire B Marcus (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA) | Melanie McKenzie (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) | Lorraine Pocklington (Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom) | Leanne Poellinger (La Crescent, Minnesota, USA) | Jacoub Reyes (Plantation, Florida, USA) | Kate Sutherland (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) | Lachlan Thompson (Northampton, Massachusetts, USA) | Natalie Vestin (Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA) | Iris Weaver (Santa Cruz, California, USA)

BOOK

Folklore of the Upper Nithsdale

Thirty-three collage artists illustrated stories of witches, ghosts, and other spirits from Sanquhar, Scotland. Using stories collected from William Wilson’s 1904 book, artists reimagined these tales in a 21st Century context and invite us to see folklore as the imagination of the past, understood in the present.

“We present selections of artwork paired with some of Wilson’s original texts,” writes Ric Kasini Kadour in the Introduction. The artists “are operating from a 21st century vantage point, a view informed by nearly a century where folklore was academically studied and taught. The transformation was radical…The artists are directing our gaze to why these stories continue to matter today.”

ARTIST RESIDENCY

Folklore & Collage Virtual Residency

June & July 2023

A virtual residency centered on collage artists who wanted to incorporate history and folklore into their artist practice. Residents made artwork for an exhibition in Sanquhar, Scotland and a book published by Kolaj Institute. Participating Artists included: Charlotte K Larson (Brooklyn, New York, USA) | Claire B Marcus (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA) | Clare Jones (Ithaca, New York, USA) | Danqi Cai (Knoxville, Tennessee, USA) | Indira Govindan (Chennai, Tamilnadu, India) | Iris Weaver (Santa Cruz, California, USA) | Jacoub Reyes (Plantation, Florida, USA) | Jennifer Lentfer (Omaha, Nebraska, USA) | Kate Sutherland (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) | Lorraine Pocklington (Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom) | Okja Kwon (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) | Veronica Poblete Villanueva (Santiago, Chile)

Image: Pink Cloud by Charlotte K Larson (7″x5″; collage ; 2023)

Image: Raking Over the Bones by Frances Ryan (12″x16.5″; collage of magazine cut-outs and printed photographs with pencil and tissue on paper; 2022.)

ARTIST RESIDENCY

Folklore & Collage Residency at the Knoxville Museum of Art

March 2023

During the Folklore & Collage Residency at the Knoxville Museum of Art, ten artists from Canada and across the United States identified stories from communities and made art which activated those stories. The artists heard from guest artists and folklore specialists. Faculty made presentations about place in art and strategies for incorporating folklore into one’s practice. Residents made artwork (a collage or series of collages) which was shown in exhibition at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland in September 2023 as part of the Celebration of Folklore. Artists were also invited to present their work at a panel at Kolaj Fest New Orleans in June 2023. Participating Artists included Sarah Cowling (London, Ontario, Canada); Eli Craven (Lafayette, Indiana, USA); Danielle Iemola-Devereux (Austin, Texas, USA); Bella LaMontagne (Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, USA); Elaine Luther (Forest Park, Illinois, USA); Carol M Lynch (Metairie, Louisiana, USA); Melanie McKenzie (Cape Coral, Florida, USA); Leanne Poellinger (La Crescent, Minnesota, USA); Lachlan Thompson (Northampton, Massachusetts, USA); Natalie Vestin (Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA)