Workshop / We Are Collage with Rafael Zen and Khalil Alomar

May 08 and 15 from 2pm to 5pm, join Massy Arts and visual artists Rafael Zen and Khalil Alomar for the in-person workshop We Are Collage – Cutting Out The Symbols That Shape Us.

The event, promoted to celebrate Zen and Alomar’s upcoming exhibition at the Massy Arts Gallery, is a series of two classes that invites artists to investigate cultural symbols and social critique through visual arts.

Through the infinite possibilities of symbol-matching and image creation provided by the collage method, instructors will discuss how images found in mass media vehicles (books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, brochures, etc) can be transformed into critical pieces that address systemic aggressions of race, class, and gender.

At the workshop, Zen and Alomar will conduct three creative exercises around semiotics, the visualities of global culture, and the technique of analog paper collage, analyzing symbols that may have shaped our notions of community, togetherness, and equality. Through artistic prompts, attendees will be asked to create collage works that will be a part of an online fanzine to be released in September 2022.

The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery – at 23 East Pender Street in Vancouver – and capacity is limited (12 seats only).

Entrance is upon donation, and registration is mandatory.

Covid Protocols: For all in-person events, attendees must provide proof of vaccination, wear a mask (N95 masks are encouraged and recommended as they offer the best protection), and consent to having their temperature checked at the front door. We kindly ask that if you are showing any symptoms, that you stay home. Thank you kindly.

Click here to register for the workshop

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Materials

Although attendees will receive a collage kit with multiple supplies each, they will be asked to bring their own scissors, glue sticks, and other collage supplies that may serve as complementary materials.

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The Artists

RAFAEL ZEN is a queer South-American artist, researcher and writer currently living on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Zen holds a Master’s degree in Contemporary Artistic Practices researching anti-capitalist art, and also a graduate degree in Contemporary Literature researching queer latinx poetics. With over 10 years of experience in art education, Rafael Zen has been currently teaching courses about decolonial studies and activist collage at Lote84 (Brazil), where he organizes the commissioned projects: Culture and Confrontation, and Ideas to Make the World Bearable. In Vancouver, Rafael works for the Massy Arts Gallery, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the James Black Gallery.

KHALIL ALOMAR is a queer Lebanese-Canadian visual artist with background in Education. Currently living on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl ̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, Alomar has focused his latest work on installations that suggest a critique on contemporary religious practices, and collages that touch discussions on gender, race, and class. As an artist in residency for Lote84 since 2020, Khalil Alomar is a collage artist and sound artist for the projects Ideas to Make the World Bearable, and Everything is Collage.

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