Artist Jana Shostak invites you on a walk with the “nowacy”. This is a word that did not previously exist in Polish, formed from the adjective “nowy/nowa” (“new”). The artist proposes introducing “nowak” (plural “nowacy”) as a replacement for the word “refugee”, which she sees as stigmatising.
The artist describes her work as follows: “Through social and mass media, I am trying to popularise the common noun ‘nowak’, which has not existed in official usage until now and is a homonym of the most common surname in Poland. Through a wave of media coverage – including an appearance on the TV programme Słownik polsko-polski and numerous radio broadcasts, as well as interviews in the press and online – I am planting this word in the language.”
The walk is open to everyone who is interested. It starts at Passage of Dialogue (Przejście Dialogu) at 13:00.
Led by: Jana Shostak
Type of event: walk open to all, starting from Passage of Dialogue
Video documentation of the action will be available at Passage of Dialogue.
Type of event: walk open to all, starting from Passage of Dialogue
Video documentation of the action will be available at Passage of Dialogue.
Jana Shostak – Belarusian-born artist who lives and works in Warsaw. She is a doctoral student at the University of the Arts in Poznań. Her practice focuses on actions that activate or “hack” communities beyond the confines of the art world.
Dialogopolis is delivered as part of the ReSTART project, co-financed by the National Programme of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the state budget.
