The winner of Sofiya Nalepinska-Boychuk Fellowship 2021 is a Polish artist and performer Daniel Kotowski. His artistic practice is a reflection of his own life. In his works, the artist refers to the concepts of biopower and biopolitics, in particular to the categories of completeness and incompleteness, based on his experience of living with hearing impairment. Through art, Daniel creates his communication strategy.
During the residency, Daniel’s goal is to show “Be Heard” performance, to explore the lives of people with hearing impairments in the social and political context of Ukraine, and to raise the awareness of the community.
“As a result of the open call, we received 53 applications, among which were both already recognized and emerging Polish artists. The applicants’ motivation letters demonstrated the extraordinary interest of the Polish art community in the programme and, more importantly, in the deeper study of Ukraine. We look forward to the arrival of the winner of the programme to Ukraine. The artist works with social themes that are also relevant to Ukraine. His interest within the residency complements his practice, but at the same time leaves room for experimentation and research. I hope that Daniel’s residency and cooperation with Open Place curators will be an opportunity not only to discover the local context, but also an opportunity for dialogue, search for common experience and critical rethinking of stereotypes and reality in which Ukraine and Poland now exist“,
says Anastasiia Yevsieieva, Head of the Visual Arts at the Ukrainian Institute.
The results of the competition were formed by the competition commission, which included:
- Tetyana Filevska (Acting Director General, Ukrainian Institute)
- Marcel Skierski (Deputy Director of CCA Ujazdowski Castle)
- Barbara Krzeska (Deputy Director, IAM)
- Yuliya Kostereva (Curator, Open Place)
- Tatiana Kochubinska (independent curator and representative of Ukrainian art scene)
- Anna Lazar (Member of Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi)
Sofiya Nalepinska-Boychuk Fellowship is an annual programme of the Ukrainian Institute, the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute offering Polish artists a two-month art residency and research stay in Kyiv, Ukraine (August-September 2022)
The residency facilitates the creation of a critical understanding of everyday life and changes taking place in contemporary Polish and Ukrainian society, culture, art, and science. The residency is a tool for learning, networking, and developing relationships between Polish and Ukrainian artists, researchers, and curators.
Curators from Open Place will provide full-time support for the Polish artist during their residence, introduce them to the social, political, and artistic context of Ukraine, and help with research and organizing trips, meetings, and discussions.