Jana Shostak describes her work as follows: “My aim is to introduce into [Polish] language a word that would replace the stigmatising term <<refugee>>. Through the use of social media and mass media – including newspaper interviews and blog posts), as well as participation in the Słownik polsko-polski programme and numerous radio broadcasts – I am attempting to popularise the as yet, officially non-existent noun <<nowak>>, that is also a homonym for the most popular surname in Poland. By inviting well-known individuals from outside the art world, I want to bring this word into the mainstream. I am also collecting statements from its actual users as evidence of the need to introduce it into the Polish language lexicon. An archive of the word’s usage is available on the <<nowacy>> Facebook profile.”
O artystce
Jana Shostak, artist, born in 1993 in Grodno. She is a PhD student at the UAP. On 20 June 2017 – World Nowak Day – she defended her dissertation in Miroslaw Bałka’s Studio of Spatial Activities. The defence took place in the Złote Tarasy shopping centre, in the Saturn store, on 67 display television sets. In her art practice, Shostak focuses on activities that activate/hack the community outside the art world. She believes in the effectiveness of art. She is the winner of the Critics’ Award at the Best Diplomas of the Academy of Fine Arts exhibition and the Grand Prix of the Young Wolves ‘16 festival, among others. Shostak has participated in exhibitions in Poland and abroad, including The Resistance of Form. Non-exhibition as part of the Forum for the Future of Culture (Powszechny Theatre, Warsaw), Attention! Border (Labyrinth Gallery, Lublin and Arsenal Gallery, Białystok), Goodbye Ai Weiwei (Ini Project, Prague), as well as at Manifesta 11 and the WRO Biennale 2017