Rezydencje WOK: dzienniki

My change is a transition from the imaginary to the real.

I noticed the need for a radical change in relations with more-than-humans when I tried to define the climate crisis as a crisis of dialogue.

Through activism, I persistently strive to turn Poland into a welcoming country for everyone, and a place filled with acceptance, joy, and freedom of expression.

Inspiration for new projects usually comes from everything I see, hear, and read ina given time, and this requires time and the ability to focus on the process.

What does the contemporary art community of Warsaw need from an independent space?

Research and aid work on the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border led me to seek additional means of expression, and I took up painting. During the residency I would like to explore this and try to identify and understand what I need.

The subject of my PhD dissertation is care work and I study the work experience of caregivers of older people. During the analysis I realised that the scientific knowledge production did not allow me to work with the emotional dimension of the collected material and with my own emotions.

I want to use the residency as an opportunity to rest after almost a year of precarious work on a show, and also I want to work on my professional development plan for future work in Poland and my studies, which I would like to continue.

As I am involved in the MOST Co-operative Farm, I want to rethink my function/mission and implement it consistently.

As part of my residency at WOK, I would like to research the intersection of disability, art and accessibility in the Polish context.

As part of the residency, I want to experience a pause and gather material for a chapter on how to... pause. How can we treat turning points, when we reach the wall of our own resilience, strength and hope, as possible defining moments to change the way we work and the way the whole arts and culture industry functions?

During the residency, I want to reflect on a new format for my writing. I want to visit places that are important to this story. The trips would allow me to go beyond the context in which I function daily (as a parent/husband/researcher) and look at this history and myself differently (as a Pole-Ukrainian/Ukrainian-Polish).

I applied for the residency out of a need to look at myself from a distance. I dream of working towards change. My daily childcare responsibilities bring a routine, a pyramid of obligations built on a sense of responsibility for the health and safety of my little ones. I wonder how this can be balanced – being there for my children, but also for myself.

As part of the residency, we want to use the work on Anouk Herman’s poetry collection as an opportunity to develop a sustainable and viable operation strategy at a time when the scope of our endeavours continues to grow.

As part of the WOK residency, we are undertaking process-oriented activities, aiming to use time and space to reflect on the future of the collective, its actions, values and structure.

I understand resilience as the ability to adapt and regenerate, to reflect and remain in uncertainty, in a state of being "in-between", of anticipation, of "not now", of "not here", of "maybe". Privately and professionally, I find myself in many areas "in between".

During my residency, I would like to focus on planning my development as a creativity mentor, including finding the right term for it, outlining goals, testing methods and identifying the needs of the environment.

For several years now, I have been developing my work, which combines art and social engagement, in an intensive manner. My artworks, including paintings, drawings, murals and street performances, offer a personal perspective on contemporary political and social issues.

Through my art, I address topics that are often overlooked in the queer community. People who struggle with these issues often feel alone and do not talk about them.

As part of the residency, I would like to find a way to make a living from creating non-fiction books. I see my life and artistic mission as providing alternative narratives in a world dominated by the idea that humans are consumers, that life is about accumulation, and that development means perpetual economic growth.

I want to take some time for myself to reconsider what I want from my artistic and professional life. This is the first time I have applied for a residency without expecting any specific artistic outcomes. This is the first time I have applied for a residency without expecting specific artistic outcomes. My goal is to enjoy the process itself, during which I hope to recognise my strengths and develop a new approach to my work.

I applied for the residency to take a closer look at my body, which is my greatest resource for creative and social work. My aim is to strengthen it so that I can consciously choose the cultural disciplines in which I wish to participate and to whom I wish to devote my attention and energy.

As part of my residency, I would like to consider how resilience, in the context of the adaptive strategies employed by dogs and their daily caregivers, can inform my creative process.

We are applying for the programme because the residency encourages reflection. This is an important stage in the artistic process that often lacks time and support because the focus is mainly on the final product.