residencies

Break or breakthrough? Accompanying creatives and researchers in their development

The Committee, composed of Anna Bieliz, Prot Jarnuszkiewicz, Łucja Krzyżanowska, Paweł Sztarbowski, and Maryna Tomaszewska, would like to thank all the applicants for their submissions. WOK presented us with the important andchallenging task of selecting just a few of the many amazing ideas. We were deeply moved by the sincerity and seriousness of your applications.

In December 2024, we completed the second edition of the WOK residency, conducted in line with the motto ‘Break or Breakthrough’. During this residency, we supported the individual creative processes of 13 people (five of whom formed two collectives). We now give them the floor to talk about their experiences.

Accompanying artists and researchers in their development.

During the residency, I want to reflect on a new format for my writing. The themes of my work will be related to the war in Ukraine and its significance.

I applied for the residency out of a need to look at myself from a distance. I dream of working towards change.

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.

After discussions with individuals qualified for the second stage, the commission composed of Justyna Czarnota, Anna Galas-Kosil, Michał Krawczak, and Joanna Synowiec invites the following individuals to participate in the WOK Residencies program:

The Committee consisting of Justyna Czarnota-Misztal, Anna Galas-Kosil, Michał Krawczak, and Joanna Synowiec would like to thank all the applicants for the submitted aplications and materials. The process of reading and familiarising ourselves with them was demanding but it also made us aware of the diverse needs for support within the artistic and research community.

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture is inviting applications for the second edition of its residency programme, which aims to enable reflection and self-development as well as creative and research work. The idea of ​​slowing down the pace and creating comfortable yet flexible conditions for development seems brave and significant in today's world, where there is often a demand for rapid creation and delivery of completed works.

The paradigm of the artist-mother (and other parents) is changing from one that has historically excluded combining a career in the art world with caring responsibilities, to the increasingly common need to function in both worlds and to fulfil the role of a practising artist on an equal footing with that of a parent.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

On Friday, 22 September 2023, it was possible to join a story circle about relationships with plants and their healing powers.

On 15 July 2023, as part of my residency at the Warsaw Observatory of Culture and Herbal Artistic Research, I organised a herbal zine workshop with the participation of Chwaściarnia (a herbal studio I run as part of the Autonomous Educational Space in Jazdów) and my guests. I also invited artists and educators Joanna Klikowicz and Adu Rączka to co-lead the meeting.

Warsaw Observatory of Culture takes part in an artistic residency programme for creators from Belarus and Ukraine, organised by the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. As a host institution we provide care and support, we try to include the Resident in our networks and partnerships, as well as in the rhythm of the institution's daily work by giving her a chance to get to know how a public cultural institution in Poland functions.

We would like to thank all the shortlisted participants for the inspiring conversations. During the interviews, our aim was to understand the needs of the applicants as best as possible and to determine the conditions necessary to support them in their exploration processes.

The Committee, composed of Szymon Adamczak, Małgorzata Bakalarz-Duverger, Anna Galas-Kosil, and Magdalena Komornicka, would like to thank all the applicants for their submissions and materials. The reading and evaluation process was crucial and inspiring for us.

Process-ing Change. An Artistic and Research Accompaniment

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture runs an artistic-research residency programme. Every year, in early spring, we announce a new thematic edition and format of the few-month-long WOK Residencies.