Organizer Information
Kolaj Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in Louisiana, USA, founded to support artists, curators, and writers who study, document, and disseminate ideas about collage as a medium, genre, and contemporary art movement. The organization works in partnership with Kolaj Magazine to communicate, market, promote, publish, and distribute its work, and is the recipient of the 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, including artist residencies, artist labs, Kolaj Fest New Orleans, and a gallery space in New Orleans. The Institute's Politics in Collage program, active since 2021 under the direction of G.E. Vogt, has produced two prior books — Politics in Collage and Collage Saves The World — along with associated exhibitions.
Title & Description
Politics in Collage: Midterm Report on the Rise of Authoritarianism
This is a four-week, virtual/online artist residency in which collage artists work together to make artwork responding to the global rise of authoritarianism, to be published as a zine titled Mid-term Report on the Rise of Authoritarianism. Using The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide — a text by Martin Mycielski, Vice-President and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Open Dialogue Foundation — as a starting point, participants will learn to read and decode authoritarianism, explore the history of political collage from its early-20th-century anti-fascist roots to contemporary practice, and discuss how art can contribute to civic discourse. Beginning in the second week, artists present a weekly collage responding to an example of rising authoritarianism or resistance to it, and receive critical feedback. Participants will also develop written statements documenting the history and context of their work. The residency includes guest talks from prior program alumni and from analog political collagist Ginger Sisco Cook, and is led by curator Ric Kasini Kadour and residency director G.E. Vogt. At the end of the residency, artists will present their work during a Kolaj LIVE Online event on Monday, October 26, 2026, 7–9pm EDT.
Theme
The rise of authoritarianism globally, explored through political collage, using The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide as a framing text and building on Kolaj Institute's prior 2025 residency of the same subject.
Categories
- Collage
- Multimedia
- Residency
- Art
Eligibility
- Open to any artist over the age of 21, from anywhere in the world
- Self-motivated artists at any career stage
- Of particular interest to artists working in, or interested in developing, social and political collage
- Applicants should be able to commit a minimum of 10 hours per week to the residency due to its workload
- Artists are expected to attend all four scheduled sessions and complete assignments
Program Benefits & Awards
- A copy of the book The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide mailed to accepted artists
- Instruction, discussion, and critical feedback from residency director G.E. Vogt and curator Ric Kasini Kadour
- Guest talks from returning 2025 residency alumni and from artist Ginger Sisco Cook
- Publication of resulting artwork in the zine Mid-term Report on the Rise of Authoritarianism
- Opportunity to present work at a Kolaj LIVE Online event on October 26, 2026
- A limited number of grants available from Kolaj Institute to offset the residency cost for artists in need
- Original collages made during the residency remain the property of the individual artists, with all rights retained
Application Fee
$600 USD per artist. A limited number of need-based grants are available from Kolaj Institute to offset this cost, funded by donor support.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Early Deadline to Apply: Sunday, August 16, 2026
- Final Deadline to Apply: Sunday, August 30, 2026
- WhatsApp Group Invitation: Saturday, September 12, 2026
- Session 1: Monday, September 14, 2026, 7–9 pm EDT
- Session 2: Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 7–9 pm EDT
- Session 3: Monday, September 28, 2026, 7–9 pm EDT
- Session 4: Monday, October 5, 2026, 7–9 pm EDT
- Residency Period: September 14 – October 5, 2026
- Kolaj LIVE Online Presentation Event: Monday, October 26, 2026, 7–9 pm EDT
Location
Online/ United States
Additional Details
- By participating, artists grant Kolaj Institute, Kolaj Magazine, and Maison Kasini permission to publish images of their work online and in book form, and to use them in project/book promotion
- Original collages remain the property of the individual artists, with all rights retained
- This residency follows a first edition, Politics in Collage 2025: Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide, whose resulting book and print folio have been exhibited at Fleming College's Haliburton School of Art & Design (Ontario) and the Rochester Art Center (Minnesota)