Kolaj Institute Projects
Kolaj Institute conceptualizes and organizes its work as long-term projects that gather information, build archives and collections, diffuse art and ideas, bring together community, and stand as lines of inquiry over time. Projects manifest as residencies, workshops, and artist labs; exhibitions; publishing projects; and events. Artists, writers, curators and organizations with an interest in these subject areas are encouraged to be in contact.
Folklore & Collage
Folklore Collage Society considers how artists activate, transmit, and celebrate folklore within communities. Through art, artists explore folklore as cultural expression and consider how shared stories, traditions, and rituals strengthen community identity and resilience. LEARN MORE
PoetryXCollage
PoetryXCollage explores and documents the intersection of poetry and collage through artist residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and a printed journal of artwork and writing. LEARN MORE
Photography & Collage
What happens when photographers collage their pictures, or when collage artists begin making photographs? Photography & Collage explores the relationship between these mediums, considering how images can be combined to tell stories about the world. LEARN MORE
Gain of Function
Gain of Function: New Mutations/Old Traditions/Collective Effervescence is a project led by Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA-based artist Emily Denlinger that speaks to the role of art, ritual, and resilience. The project intersects with Folklore, Photography, and Motion and is realized as a zine published by Kolaj Institute; a short film; and a folio of photographs available for exhibition. LEARN MORE
Politics in Collage
Politics in Collage brings artists together to examine social and political issues through residencies, publications, discussions, and exhibitions. LEARN MORE
Trash as Material
Trash as Material is a series of residencies, publications, discussions, and exhibitions that explores how artists use discarded materials to tell stories about our world. The project considers the relationships among collage, assemblage, and sculpture, and the role and importance of reuse within collage philosophy and art making. LEARN MORE
Artists in the Archives
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Stewart-Swift Research Center, the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History invited an international network of collage artists to engage with historic material in the archive and to create a folio of collage prints that reflect on the idea of community in a 21st century world. The project unfolds as a book, exhibition, folio of prints, and program series. LEARN MORE
Resisting Authoritarianism
Resisting Authoritarianism considers the role collage artists have played during times of rising authoritarianism. LEARN MORE
Street Art: Kolaj Street Krewe
Kolaj Street Krewe investigates collage in street art through residencies, publications, articles, and discussions. The project brings together artists interested in how collage operates in public space, both as an artistic practice and as a way of sharing artwork beyond the gallery. LEARN MORE
Collage & Illustration
Through collaborative collage illustrations, artists bring vintage, public domain stories into conversation with a contemporary audience. Residencies, publications, discussions, and exhibitions explore how collage can help readers engage with these texts and understand their ideas differently. LEARN MORE
Collage in Motion
Collage in Motion explores moving images through animation, film cut-ups, stop-motion, collage films, and documentaries about collage artists. The project takes shape through magazine articles, an online directory, workshops, residencies, and screenings, with inquiries extending into animated GIFs and sound collage. LEARN MORE
Place as Archive
Place as Archive explores how artists bring a sense of place into their collage practice. Artists approach landscapes, streets, buildings, and everyday materials as sources of stories, developing artwork through research, residencies, exhibitions, and publications. LEARN MORE
War & Peace Correspondence Project
War & Peace Correspondence Project is a collaboration with the German magazine Wissenschaft & Frieden (Science & Peace), that shows how collage responds to media reporting of war and peace. LEARN MORE
The River Bends & So Must We
Originating with an exploration of the Mississippi River as a dynamic force of culture, River Project considers rivers and waterways as places of cultural exchange that connect people and communities. Through collage and art making, artists bring geography, archives, history, storytelling, and folklore into conversation to explore how waterways shape our shared humanity. LEARN MORE
Collage the Planet
Collage the Planet is a series of residencies, publications, discussions, and exhibitions that looks at how artists can use collage to speak to Environmental Issues. LEARN MORE
ABOUT KOLAJ INSTITUTE
The mission of Kolaj Institute is to support artists, curators, and writers who seek to study, document, & disseminate ideas that deepen our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. We operate a number of initiatives meant to bring together community, investigate critical issues, and raise collage’s standing in the art world.
Kolaj Institute works in partnership with Kolaj Magazine to communicate, market, promote, publish, and distribute the work of the Institute. Kolaj Institute is the recipient of Kolaj Magazine‘s archives and collections.
Kolaj Institute is decentralized and works in partnership with a number of art venues and other organizations around the world to manifest its programs.