PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT
Book & Folio: Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide by Martin Mycielski, illustrated & interpreted by contemporary collage artists
Kolaj Institute’s Politics in Collage Project is a series of residencies, publications, discussions, and exhibitions examining complex socio-political issues that contemporary society is contending with, in order to spark meaningful dialogue and inspire deeper engagement.
In January 2025, Kolaj Institute organized the residency, Politics in Collage 2025: Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide, that brought together collage artists to make artwork that responds to a global rise in authoritarianism. They explored the history of political collage and its early 20th century roots in the European anti-fascist movements. They learned how to read and decode authoritarianism, to understand how it operates, and strategies for resisting or countering it. Discussions and presentations centered on how an artist can make work that picks up the unfinished work of history and contributes to the civic discourse.
Artists in the residency worked together to illustrate and elucidate The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide, a text written by Martin Mycielski, the Vice-President and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Open Dialogue Foundation. Based on the Polish experience, The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide offers its readers information and tools for recognizing and resisting authoritarianism. In a clear series of lists, the Guide lays out what to expect in a society being led by an authoritarian regime, rules for surviving such a regime, and strategies for engaging with authoritarian supporters. Kolaj Institute has published a book and folio of prints using the artwork made during the residency.
Book: Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide
The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide is a collage. The book combines the text of a Polish human rights activist with the artwork of seven collage artists to create a space in which we can think about the rise of authoritarianism and how to navigate the troubling, difficult times in which we find ourselves. Organized as a series of lists, the book illustrates what to expect under authoritarianism and offers rules for surviving authoritarian regimes and engaging their supporters. The introduction traces how the text came into existence and how the artists came together to make collage about it. Ric Kasini Kadour shares historical examples of artists responding to authoritarianism; John Heartfield’s anti-fascist collage and a 1979 exhibition in East Germany that was described as a “victory over false consciousness.” The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide is a testament to the role art can play in our communities.
PURCHASE THE BOOK
Folio: Art to Resist & Survive Authoritarianism
The folio “Art to Resist & Survive Authoritarianism” consists of twenty-six, 15”x11”, collage prints on 100lb Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper in an edition of 5, plus one A/P. The folio is presented in an archival box with a label, a guide and a numbered title page signed by the curator. One set of folios is included in Kolaj Institute’s archive. The remaining folios are available for sale with the proceeds going to support the mission of Kolaj Institute. The folio is also available as a traveling exhibition. Please send an email to inquire about exhibiting or purchasing folio.
Exhibition: Collage As Art Movement
Selections of the folio are currently on view at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans as part of the exhibition, “Collage as Art Movement” (14 June-31 August 2025). The exhibition offers a number of examples of how the International Collage Community comes together, makes art, and diffuses that art into the larger culture and how Kolaj Institute works to support that movement and the artists who participate in it. On view is a selection of eight works from the “Art to Resist & Survive Authoritarianism” folio. EXHIBITION DETAILS
Panel at Kolaj Fest New Orleans
Three contributing artists will join Glenyse Thompson and Jody Zellen for the panel, “The World’s on Fire. Whatcha Gonna Do?: Politics in Collage,” at Kolaj Fest New Orleans on Friday, 27 June 2025. Fairfield, Connecticut-based Lori Petchers, Boise, Idaho-based Suzanne Gore, and Sedona, Arizona-based Jennifer R. Myhre will speak about how they make political collage and their work in the project and how their larger art practice contributes to the political discourse in their communities. LEARN MORE