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Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, July 10-14, 2019.

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Kolaj Fest will return to New Orleans on July 10-14, 2019 for a coming together of collage artists and art professionals; a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society; where the focus is how we celebrate and elevate the status of collage. Presenters will lead panel discussions and explore key curatorial issues. Artists will exhibit artwork, and create special activities and demonstrations. We will meet, network, share community, camaraderie, and fellowship. We will leave armed with new ideas for our artmaking, writing, and curatorial projects, but more importantly, we will leave Kolaj Fest New Orleans prepared to champion this artform in the year to come.

REGISTER TODAY!

What is Kolaj Fest New Orleans?

Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. Our mission is to create a platform that allows us to explore critical issues around collage (how it is curated and presented, its role in contemporary art, and the tensions between collage as a medium, a genre, and a phenomenon). Our goal is to create an event that attracts a variety of people working in various capacities, such as art professionals at museums, galleries, and centers as well as academics, writers, and artists. The general public will be welcome to join us for gallery visits, evening presentations, and collage making.

Why Kolaj Fest?

For over 100 years, we have been advancing, exploring, and disrupting visual art through collage. It is about time to give the medium its due. It's time to come together as a community.

Kolaj Fest is a
decentralized event happening all over
New Orleans,
July 10-14, 2019.

NEWS ABOUT KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS

Program Book

This Kolaj Fest New Orleans Program Book was a document of all things related to Kolaj Fest. In these pages, you will find a schedule and descriptions of sessions, bios and website information for artists and presenters, descriptions of evening events and special programs and some helpful information about getting around and being in New Orleans.

Click the cover image to download a PDF version of the Program.

If you want to get ahead on some things, check out this "Before Kolaj Fest" guide where we round up the vaious calls to artists and workshops that require an RSVP.

EVENING EVENTS | DAILY COLLAGE CONGRESS | SYMPOSIUM | IN FOCUS
WORKSHOPS | SPECIAL EVENTS | EXHIBITIONS

CALL TO ARTISTS

Doug & Laurie Kanyer Art Collection Purchase Award at Kolaj Fest New Orleans

Doug and Laurie Kanyer, in their desire to support artists and advance a deeper understanding of collage, are working with Kolaj Magazine to build a collection of collage art. At Kolaj Fest New Orleans, they invite registered participants to submit a work of art for consideration. A number of works will be selected and purchased. To be considered, complete an application before July 7th, 2019. DETAILS

AT KOLAJ FEST

Day at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Kolaj Fest New Orleans embeds at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on Friday, July 12, 2019. The Ogden's Curator of the Collection Bradley Sumrall will lead a tour of an exhibition of artwork by Benny Andrews. The museum will also be the site of two panel presentations. Participants will also have the opportunity to view the exhibition "Vernacular Voices." MORE

(Image: Courtesy of Ogden Museum of Southern Art)

EXHIBITION

Cultural Deconstructions at LeMieux Galleries

LeMieux Galleries in the Arts District of New Orleans hosts "Cultural Deconstructions", the main exhibition at Kolaj Fest New Orleans. Continuing a theme established in the 2018 exhibition, “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage”, the collage works on view represent a point of departure for further curatorial inquiry. The exhibition will be complemented by a discussion of curatorial issues in collage and a discussion of whether or not the book is a better means of diffusing and sharing this artwork. MORE

AT KOLAJ FEST

Mystic Krewe of Scissors & Glue Steps It Up at Kolaj Fest New Orleans

MKSG has yet to declare any plans for Carnival but they have taken a key role in supporting Kolaj Fest New Orleans. They are making DYI collage kits with image clippings, colored paper, fabric, other goodies, and a welcome note from the Krewe for the Kolaj Fest New Orleans Registration Packet. The Krewe is playing a key role in organizing the Thursday evening Collage Party (details coming soon). Krewe co-founder Hope Amico will be leading a tour of Paper Machine on Sunday. The Krewe is producing an exhibition at Artisan Bar & Cafe, the home of the festival’s collage making space, that will run the month of July with additional work being added during Kolaj Fest New Orleans. And members will be leading the creation of a large, collaborative collage on panel, a giant CollabSlab. MORE

Calls to Artists

EXHIBITION

Unfamiliar Vegetables

At Kolaj Fest New Orleans, the Mystic Krewe of Scissors and Glue invites registered participants to contribute a collage to an exhibition at Artisan Bar & Cafe, the home of the festival’s collage making space. The exhibition will run the month of July with additional work being added during Kolaj Fest New Orleans. DETAILS

PERFORMANCE

THINGS-SPEAK

Collage (and related forms) have shaped the creation of Mia van Leeuwen’s performance works since 2002. During this presentation at Kolaj Fest New Orleans, van Leeuwen will present her work and how she brings collage into performance. Van Leeuwen will share a slide presentation of her performance, Destroy She Said, and other performance works and discuss how they are shaped by collage. CALL TO ARTISTS: For those interested, after the presentation, van Leeuwen will work with participants to create performances that will debut at The Surrealist Salon on Saturday. DETAILS

Program Overview

Organizers will be announcing program panels, workshops, exhibitions, and activities over the coming weeks. What follows is not a complete list. More to come!

EVENING EVENTS | DAILY COLLAGE CONGRESS | SYMPOSIUM | IN FOCUS
WORKSHOPS | SPECIAL EVENTS | EXHIBITIONS

AT KOLAJ FEST

Daily Collage Congress

At each Daily Collage Congress, we will review the day’s agenda. Speakers will share ideas about the state of collage. And we will hear updates about special projects taking place during the festival.

AT KOLAJ FEST

Symposium

The program at Kolaj Fest will be a unique experience. We have multiple goals and are serving multiple audiences: We aim to breakdown hierarchy and foster dialogue among art professionals working in a variety of capacities. We aim to build bridges between the collage community and the larger art world; between the art world and the general public. Our hope is that participants will have fun, network, play, and socialize while engaging in deep, real talk about issues that are important to them. We aim that people will leave Kolaj Fest New Orleans connected to a community, armed with ideas for their art, the presentation of collage, their writing and curatorial work, or simply a deeper appreciation and understanding of collage and the people who make it. MORE

AT KOLAJ FEST

Collage Making Space

Collage making will take place 11AM to 5PM on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Kolaj Fest New Orleans. In addition to free time to make collage, the space will host artists leading demonstrations and workshops. The space has scissors, X-acto knives, glue, and a collection of papers and materials. MORE

PRE-KOLAJ FEST WORKSHOP

Get Your ART Together

Each year countless organizations produce career and business workshops for artists that cover everything from money management to website building to marketing strategy. The problem is that making a life as an artist is an idiosyncratic, non-linear journey where success can be ill-defined, elusive, and ever changing. In this pre-Kolaj Fest New Orleans session, we offer a different approach to this subject. During this four hour workshop, artists will come together as a group of professionals to exchange stories and strategies. The workshop is structured to address three key parts of an artist’s life: voice, practice, and career. MORE

THURSDAY EVENING

Collage Party at Art Klub

& Exhibition Opening: “Femme Fatale Freed” by Art Klub Resident Emily Stone. Art Klub welcomes Kolaj Fest New Orleans with COLLAGE PARTY, an evening of collage making, show & tell, and readings celebrating the opening of the exhibition “Femme Fatale Freed” by Art Klub Resident Emily Stone. In addition to collage making, there will be story telling and readings being organized by Portland, Oregon collagist and writer Kevin Sampsell. COLLAGE PARTY is open to everybody in New Orleans and an opportunity for Kolaj Fest New Orleans to meet and mingle with the city’s art community. MORE

FRIDAY EVENING

Collage in Motion

Animated Collage Celebrated with Film Screening and Workshop. Kolaj Fest New Orleans continues its history of celebrating collage in animation. The 2019 edition of the festival will present “Collage in Motion”, a film festival of animated collage at Kajun’s Pub on Friday, July 12th, 7PM with karaoke to follow. “Collage in Motion” is curated by independent filmmaker and collage artist Lisa Barcy. MORE

SATURDAY EVENING

The Surrealist Salon

On Saturday evening at Kolaj Fest New Orleans, we will come together for The Surrealist Salon, an evening of collage, community, and culture. Inspired by The Rothschild Surrealist Ball, our salon will have collage animations, stories, music, and art. Attendees are encouraged to embrace New Orleanians' love of costumes and join us for a remarkable evening in which we "evoke the mystery without which the world would not exist” and have a good time doing so. DETAILS

ONGOING AT KOLAJ FEST

Special Activities
& Projects

In addition to a robust program of presentations, a number of special activities will take place at Kolaj Fest New Orleans. These include Great Collage Swap; Collage Tanzkarte; Made at Kolaj Fest; Collage in Animation; & Artist Projects. MORE

Assemblage by Marcy Lally
at LeMieux Galleries. MORE

COLLAGE ON VIEW

Collage in
The Crescent City

Like any vibrant, contemporary art scene, New Orleans is full of remarkable galleries showing collage. For 2019, we are planning dynamic exhibitions and gallery tours. So far, we have announced these exhibitions. More to come!

Here is our list of places we visited for the 2018 of Kolaj Fest New Orleans.

KOLAJ FEST HOTEL

Aloft New Orleans Downtown

Aloft New Orleans Downtown is located in the heart of the Central Business District, steps away from the French Quarter and street car ride away from the Marigny/Bywater.

Aloft New Orleans Downtown
225 Barrone Street, New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 581-9225 | HOTEL WEBSITE

NOTE: Online booking is now available. To reserve a room now and lock in the $122/night rate, visit the hotel's website or call (504) 581-9225 and refer to the "Kolaj Fest" group.

AT KOLAJ FEST

Welcome Reception

Aloft New Orleans Downtown's W XYZ Bar is known for its vibrant social scene, eclectic playlists, and live acoustic performances from emerging artists. It's the perfect place to mix and mingle with other attendees while sipping on a specialty cocktail, a glass of bubbly, or a cold draft beer. Kolaj Fest New Orleans will host a reception on Wednesday, July 10th, 5-7PM. Attendees will be able to check into Kolaj Fest and meet the organizers and other folks attending Kolaj Fest.

Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2019 possible through
a generous gift from Laurie and Doug Kanyer.

Follow for Updates

Reviews of Kolaj Fest 2018

Eye Magazine
Collage Champions by Steven McCarthy
READ THE ARTICLE

The Gambit
Review: 'Revolutionary Paths' collage expo at Antenna is pure poetry by D. Eric Bookhardt
READ THE REVIEW

Jon Foster, Mail Art
Kolaj Fest New Orleans
READ IT HERE

Kevin Sampsell
Kolaj Fest Was Hot!
READ IT HERE

One Word Long
Kolaj Fest 2018: Curatorial Issues in Collage
READ IT HERE

The Seaside Fleet (New Orleans)
READ THE POST

“a mental list of dangerous things”
The Jealous Curator, Danielle Krysa & Charles Wilkin on the podcast: Art in Your Ears No. 144
LISTEN

About Kolaj Magazine

Kolaj Magazine is a quarterly, printed magazine about contemporary collage. We are interested in how collage is made, how collage is exhibited, and how collage is collected. We are interested in the role collage plays in contemporary visual culture. Kolaj is a full colour, internationally-oriented art magazine. Kolaj is published in Montreal, Quebec by Maison Kasini. Visit Kolaj Magazine online.

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