Unexpected (Ethno)Poetic Expedition

INTERNATIONAL ART RESIDENCY IN THE BIAŁOWIEŻA FOREST 2025 and my point of view on it.

The Beginning

I realized I was about to embark on an adventure not on the train from Łódź Fabryczna, but while waiting for my connection at Warszawa Wschodnia—burdened with bags, rolls of paper, materials. A bird I’d never seen in a city before landed in front of me. Half an hour later, I was riding an old, noisy train toward Hajnówka, Narewka, Gruszki, the Białowieża Forest.

One large manor-house, a few unfamiliar people from around the world, nearby forests, villages, and towns where things happen that are at once familiar and unfamiliar—to me, a Belarusian who spent most of his adult life in Vilnius and Łódź. It sounds like a horror setup, but even more like a perfect setup for an adventure, a quest, and creative work.

The Goal?

I had a fairly clear goal—to transform the poems of local poets into visual images. This is the essence of my visual art and experimental calligraphy practice, which I’ve named "Versingforms" (Wierszaformy, Вершаформы, poem-forms literally). In today’s world, people read more than ever before: messages, signs, websites, sometimes prose or non-fiction, but rarely poetry. Poetry requires a switch to a different reading mode, and not everyone is ready for that.

Yet ever since studying in the multicultural environment of Vilnius, I’ve felt the urge to show and talk about poetry and its phenomena in new forms—through film, video art, and visual arts. Over the past five years, I’ve transformed the works of dozens of authors—Belarusian, Polish, and others—into visual forms. I write letter by letter, assembling them into a composition. I often do this in public places to spark dialogue with passersby, which is one of the goals of my art.

Discovery—but of What?

This residency surprised me from the start. I came to the Białowieża Forest expecting to discover nature, to see bison and birds, to listen to the forest. But after my first bike trip to Narewka, I realized that what would interest me even more than nature was culture.

I stumbled upon a liturgy in the local Orthodox church, visited all the local cemeteries—Orthodox, Jewish, interdenominational. In Łódź, I’ve managed to set up my life so that I can bike to my favorite library, several galleries, my studio, and other inspiring places within five minutes. Amazingly, I found the same rhythm in the forest. Eight minutes by bike, and I was at a gallery, a church, a library, cemeteries, and other places conducive to daily work.

On my first day, I spent five hours in the library and brought back 11 books. I hadn’t seen such a collection of books in Belarusian since I lived in Belarus! I discovered many local Polish-language poets who write in Belarusian, books published in local dialects. I mostly spoke with people "po naszemu"—a language they describe not simply as a mix of Polish and Belarusian but as the language of the first Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. I learned a lot about the local geography and history.

Daily Expeditions and the Creative Process

Almost every day, I ventured into the forest—sometimes alone, sometimes with fellow residents. From the third day of the Tropinka Art Residency, I wrote poem-forms daily. I started modestly, with small formats and lesser-known local works—a warm-up of sorts. When you haven’t written in a while, the best pieces usually come after a few days or even a week of steady work.

As I said, the street is my ideal artistic studio. I bring materials with me or find them on the street, sit down, and start writing. That’s what I did here too—in the forest, in Narewka, often on the terrace. Other residents told me that watching me work—even inadvertently—inspired and disciplined them in their own writing. A curious side effect 🙂

Local Poets

I wanted to translate the poems of local authors—those writing in Polish, Belarusian, and Yiddish—into poem-forms. I succeeded largely thanks to recommendations from the librarian and local residents, my own finds in the library, and tips from journalists and literary scholars.

Here is a partial list of poets whose works I transformed into visual poetry:

• Aleś Barski

• Jan Czykwin

• Borys Russko

• Ryszard Worobiej

• Wiktor Szwed

• Nadzieja Artymovich

• Andrej Stiepaniuk

• Mira Łuksza

• Ryszard Zięckowski

• Uladzimir Hajduk

• Morris Rosenfeld

Previous Experiences, New Discoveries

In the past, I participated in ethnographic expeditions, and once even made a documentary film in the Krasnopol commune, in a village near the Belarusian-Russian border—mostly depopulated due to radiation. Even there, I encountered a unique culture and people who found joy in life despite everything.

The situation in Narewka is entirely different, although residents here also face challenges, like those resulting from the current Polish-Belarusian border situation. But here, thanks to Tropinka, I experienced not a traditional ethnographic expedition, but a poetic and cultural journey. It was my first such experience—and an example of how one can work with regional, local cultures.

I was deeply moved by my meeting with Katarzyna Bielawska from the Tamara Sołoniewicz Gallery (Galeria Narewka). After a long conversation, a new idea was born—not a canvas or paper filled with poem-forms, but a shirt completely written over with poems by local authors. Within two days, the shirt came to life: the first handmade wearable poem-form.

Encounters and Exchanges

Our farewell gathering at the gallery was also unforgettable. Each participant shared their work, receiving heartfelt responses from the many attendees. Again, surprise—Narewka is a village, who would expect such vibrant cultural life? But it thrives! There were conversations with poets, fascinating guests from nearby villages, and we tasted regional cuisine.

After the event, I felt that although the main work was done, something remained. Like in a video game, when the main storyline ends but you’re still inside the world.

New Directions?

In the final days of the residency, I began exploring how to convert entire poetry collections or selections into visual compositions. A journalist from TVP3 recommended another local poet, and I selected four of his poems, crafting four poem-forms on one giant sheet that form a single composition.

Back in Łódź, I’m continuing the work that began in the Białowieża Forest. I assemble stories, ideas, thoughts—creating compositions from words and letters that connect and drive one another forward.

When I waited for my transfer at Warszawa Zachodnia, I was no longer the same person I had been two weeks earlier at Warszawa Wschodnia. Besides creating many works and meeting extraordinary, kind people, this adventure changed me in ways I can’t yet fully describe. The compositions keep writing themselves, the forms keep assembling, the dialogue continues—and I will return to the forest. In a different way, with a new perspective.

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