News Disarray

The history of collage can trace some of its roots in Dada, a 20th-century international avant-garde art movement (c. 1916–1924) formed during WWI in Zurich as a protest against the war’s horrors, nationalism, and rationalism.

It championed irrationality, satire, and ‘anti-art’, utilising techniques like readymades, collage, and performance to challenge traditional, bourgeois art conventions. Dada artists felt the war called into question every aspect of a society capable of starting and then prolonging it – including its art. 

Embracing this spirit, workshop facilitator Emma Anna will guide participants through a presentation of her newspaper collage project ‘News Disarray’. She will demonstrate a range of techniques and approaches to working with the most humble of paper media - the daily newspaper - as a means of providing catharsis and respite from the news-of-the-day. 

During this 2.5 hour session workshop attendees will craft two distinct collages accessing the power of subversion, humour and wordplay to generate work that is resonant with personal and political insight. Skills learnt can then be applied to an ongoing exploration of collage narrative and personal journaling. 

This is a small group session at Workroom @workroom_sydney in Petersham with a maximum of 5 attendees per session. $55 per person includes all materials, tea / coffee and light snacks.