Lada Nakonechna, Marina Naprushkina, Katarzyna Hertz, Jana Shostak.
Moderated by: Anna Łazar

The discussion will be joined by women artists from Central and Eastern Europe – the exact region swept by world wars in the early 20th century. Our lands – Poland, Ukraine, Belarus – were witnesses to the cruellest events of the time. It was our ancestors who were forced to resist and flee, facing murder and famine. Ukraine is defiant today, having been invaded by Russia – notably, a state openly supporting Lukashenka’s criminal regime. Such is the difficult point of the world our gardens have found themselves in. Nonetheless, we have refused to give up for centuries, standing up to our oppressors just as our grandmothers did. What are the alternative fields of activity generated by culture? How has the female artists’ position affected the circumstances of individuals, institutions and the overall condition of culture? Do local strategies carry any global importance at all? Themes we intend to discuss will include these and other issues of individual choices, personal reflection and resistance. We will engage in conversation about culture – another battlefield, and place wherein we develop ethical and political standards for a new era which has to inevitably arrive to this demanding part of Europe.

Anna Łazar – Curator at the Museum of Art in Łódź, publicist, lecturer. Collaborates with "Czas Literatury", member of the editorial board of "Nowa Europa Wschodnia". Translator (among others, of Why There Are Great Artists in Ukrainian Art., 2020). She worked in the field of public diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as deputy director and acting director at the Polish Institutes in Kiev (2008-2014) and in St. Petersburg (2015-2018).

Kasia Hertz is an artist, filmmaker, activist and cultural organizer, founder of the Kultura Kresu collective, based in the Białowieża Forest, Eastern Poland and Berlin. Her participatory practice bridges ecology, anthropology, and digital culture through interspecies solidarity and networked relations. Kultura Kresu is a nomadic space/platform for experimental explorations of stories, sensory experiences, and moving images/sounds. Her works have been presented at the Kyiv Biennial (Kyiv, UA), Kino der Kunst (Munich, DE), Oberhausen Short Film Festival (Oberhausen, DE), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin, DE), Ruhrtriennale Bochum (Bochum, DE).

Lada Nakonechna – is an artist and researcher. In addition to her personal practice, she is involved in a number of group projects and collectives – R.E.P. group (since 2005), curatorial and activist union Hudrada (since 2008), cofounder of Method Fund (2015) and co-curator of its educational and research programs. In 2016 she also joined the new editorial board of the Internet journal of art, literature and politics Prostory.net.ua. Nakonechna’s artworks, which often take the form of installations incorporating drawing, photographs and text, call attention to methods of recognition and reveal the internal aspects of visual and verbal structures.

Marina Naprushkina (born in Minsk) - is an artist, feminist and activist.
Her diverse artistic practice includes video, performance, drawings, installation, and text. Naprushkina is mostly working outside of institutional spaces, in cooperation with communities and activist organizations. Naprushkina is focusing on creating new formats, structures, and organizations based on self-organization.
2007 Naprushkina founded the Office for Anti Propaganda. It concentrates on power structures in nation-states, often making use of nonfiction material such as propaganda issued by governmental institutions. Started as an archive on political propaganda the „Office" drifted to a political platform. In cooperation with activists and cultural makers, Office for Anti Propaganda lounges and supports political campaigns, social projects, publishes underground newspapers.

In 2013 Naprushkina initiated the initiative Neue Nachbarschaft/Moabit. The initiative grew up to be one of the largest initiatives in Berlin and built up a strong community of people with and without migrant background. Naprushkina participated a.o. at the Kyiv Biennale (2017), the 7th Berlin Biennale (2011), 11th International Istanbul Biennale (2009). Naprushkina is lecturer at Art Academy Berlin-Weißensee in Berlin.

Jana Shostak (born 1993, Belarus), a graduate of the Intermedia Faculty of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow (B.A.) and the Faculty of Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (Master’s studies). Activist, artist, finalist of Miss Polonia Wielkopolska, miss eco Elite 2020. In her artistic practice Shostak combines many media, including performance and video art. She focuses on activating non-artistic communities and dehermitizing the art field. The Winner of the 2021 Polityka Passports. She is currently engaged as a volunteer in helping Ukrainian refugees.