Kolaj LIVE Knoxville: Call for Papers, Artists & Projects

Kolaj LIVE Knoxville is a real time manifestation of Kolaj Magazine and Kolaj Institute. From the evening of Friday, November 5th, 2021 to 1PM on Sunday, November 7th, 2021, artists, curators, and writers will gather for a weekend of collage making, gallery visits, slideshows, exhibition tour, and storytelling that deepens our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. Kolaj LIVE Knoxville is based at the Knoxville Museum of Art, with other activities in downtown Knoxville.

Our mission is to create a platform that allows us to explore critical issues around collage. 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. Kolaj LIVE Knoxville plays a key role in the work of Kolaj Magazine and Kolaj Institute, as it is a way for us to become familiar with a professional’s work. Presenters may be invited to participate in future projects. Responding to the Call is how you tell us that you would like to take on a presenting role at Kolaj LIVE Knoxville.

The program at Kolaj LIVE Knoxville will be a unique experience. Our aim is to break down hierarchy and foster dialogue among art professionals working in a variety of capacities. To that end, the editorial staff of the magazine works with presenters to craft a program. 

A presenting role can mean many different things: presenting your topic or art practice on a panel, leading a discussion on a topic important to collage, or conducting a special project during the event.

Most presenters present short slide shows about a project or their practice followed by a Q&A with the audience. Topics we are interested in include: historical perspective, art world economics, the role collage has played in an artist’s practice (particularly when their final work isn’t collage per se); mash up culture; the relationship between contemporary art and society; museum issues; surveys of how collage was presented in exhibition; collections where collage plays a central role; the role of collage in various art movements (Modernism, Surrealism, Pop Art, etc.); utopian and dystopian imagery in art; art’s role in the current political moment and, in particular, how art responds to sexism and racism; notions of power in the art world and its impact on collage. 

We are particularly interested in one’s experience as an artist: making art, showing art, selling art, identifying as an artist or a collagist, how the artist participates both in an art community and in society in general. We are interested in artists open to sharing how they navigate the art world. We are also interested in various approaches and strategies for collage making. This is by no means an exhaustive list.