The Renga Project

The Renga Project began on the summer solstice, 2013, and is a new take on an ancient traditional collaborative form of Japanese poetry. Fifty-two weekly stanzas were written by a diverse group of New Mexico poets; fifty-two New Mexico artists were invited to create a linked drawing with each artist responding to a writer’s stanza. The poem has been displayed on a large sign in the Santa Fe Railyard all year, with new stanzas added weekly.

In June and July, Axle Contemporary presented an exhibition of the drawings in its mobile gallery, the book with the entire collaborative poem and linked drawings, and a group reading by the poets of the entire poem, a roundtable discussion, booksigning, and renga writing workshop at The New Mexico Museum of Art.