CALL TO ARTISTS
Collage Publishing Workshop
A four-week, virtual/online workshop with Kolaj Institute Mondays, 3, 10, 17 & 24 March 2025, 6-8PM EST
Early deadline to apply: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Final deadline to apply: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
At Kolaj Institute, we see the book, not just the gallery, as a place to experience collage. This sentiment has broad implications for how collage artists work and how their work is received by an art world whose orientation is decidedly fixed on the gallery wall. Can the book provide for the functions that the exhibition has provided to artists for so long? Will the public accept a book as an experience of artwork or even as an object of art in and of itself? Unlike an exhibition where only original work is on display, a book depends on reproduction for its distribution. And if we now accept the book as on par with the exhibition, how does that affect how we think of the history of art publishing that has come before? These are the questions we seek to answer. As we will see, collage artists are not alone in this endeavor. Artists have been wrestling with how to make the book work for over a century, often returning to the same questions that we are asking.
In this four-week workshop, artists will turn a body of work or a project into a zine, art catalog, monograph, or book. We will explore different models of publishing and types of book projects. We will walk through the steps and support one another as we create publishing projects and prepare to put them out into the world. Participants will present and receive feedback on page spreads. Presentations will speak to issues around copyright and appropriation, getting the book printed, and launching and marketing the book.
While we acknowledge the book can be an art object in and of itself, the focus of this workshop will be on artists who want to create a publishing project that is mass-produced and distributed.
This workshop is part of Kolaj Institute’s Collage Books project, which began as a directory and resulted in the October 2019 symposium on The Book as a Place of Collage at Volume 2 MTL and a publication. So much of collage is experienced in printed, published form. Collage Books is Kolaj Institute’s tool for organizing, documenting, and cataloging books in which collage plays an important role. We take a broad view of collage books and include trade editions, art criticism, coffee table books, ‘zines, artist books, catalogs, and literary endeavors that feature collage.
OUTCOME
Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the role publishing can play in their own art practice. They will finish the workshop with a publishing project or create a detailed plan for one.
Collage Publishing 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.
HOW TO APPLY
Learn more and apply at https://kolajinstitute.org/artist-development/
COST
The cost for the Collage Publishing Workshop is $600 USD. A limited number of grants is available to offset the workshop fee and reduce barriers to participation in the program, particularly for those artists coming from places in the world that face historic economic disadvantages. Follow the link in the How to Apply section above to learn more.
SESSION DATES
Monday, 3 March 2025, 6-8PM EST
Monday, 10 March 2025, 6-8PM EST
Monday, 17 March 2025, 6-8PM EST
Monday, 24 March 2025, 6-8PM EST
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, send an email.
FACULTY
Ric Kasini Kadour
Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, and cultural worker. Working with the Vermont Arts Council, Kadour curated four exhibits: “Connection: The Art of Coming Together” (2017) and Vermont Artists to Watch 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017, he curated “The Art of Winter” at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. In 2018, Kadour curated “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage” at Antenna Gallery in New Orleans, which bought together collage artists whose work represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium; followed in 2019 by “Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage” at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, which furthered the conversation; and “Amuse Bouche”, also at LeMieux Galleries in 2023. Since 2018, he has produced Kolaj Fest New Orleans, a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. As Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 2019 and 2020, he curated three exhibitions, “Rokeby Through the Lens” (May 19-June 16, 2019), “Structures” (August 24-October 27, 2019), and “Mending Fences: New Works by Carol MacDonald” (July 12-October 25, 2020). He also curated “Contemporary American Regionalism: Vermont Perspectives” (August 17-October 20, 2019); “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (November 1-30, 2019); and “Many Americas” (August 20-November 27, 2022) in the Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. “The Money $how”, co-curated with Frank Juarez, was presented at the AIR Space Gallery at Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 10-September 12, 2021). For Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland (August 13-20, 2021), he curated “Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream”, which traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in January-February 2022. At 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kadour co-curated with Alicia Inez Guzmàn two exhibitions: “Many Worlds Are Born” (February 19-May 14, 2022) and “Technologies of the Spirit” (June 11-September 3, 2022). In 2023 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Kadour curated “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (January 9-February 16, 2023) and “Mythical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” (March 17-May 28, 2023). In September 2023, he curated “Word of Mouth: Folklore, Community and Collage” at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland. His first short film, The Covenant of Schwitters’ Army, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2023. His second, Joy Is Paper, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2024. Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in Hyperallergic, OEI, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, Seattle Weekly, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor) and many others. Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, and sculpture have been exhibited in and are part of private collections in Australia, Europe and North America. In January-February 2020, he was artist-in-residence at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion from the University of Vermont. Kadour splits his time between Montreal and New Orleans. www.rickasinikadour.com