Turkowski & Nowacka: JaWa

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Address ul. Emilii Plater 31, Warszawa
Entry 30–40 PLN
Venue's website komuna.warszawa.pl…
Curator Anna Smolar

Performative installation by the duo Turkowski & Nowacka, documenting the history of a Szczecin social enterprise.


The tradition of social enterprises dates back to the interwar period in Poland. At a time when in Western Europe the development of the economy was mainly driven by industrialisation processes, in Poland it was also accompanied by political and nationalist motivations. In the 19th century, the history of the development of social economics can be traced back at least to the Hrubieszów Agricultural Society founded by Stanisław Staszic. It was set up to ensure the conditions for exercising the freedom that Staszic had secured for his peasants, and existed until the establishment of the People's Republic of Poland. Its proper name, Rolnicze Towarzystwo Wspólnego Ratowania się w Nieszczęściach (Agricultural Society for Mutual Aid in Misfortune), reflects the idea of the origins of social economy in Poland well.

The social enterprise JaWa was established in Szczecin in September 2021. The name was taken from the first syllables of the first names of the full-time employees, Jan and Waldemar, for whom the enterprise was established. The creation of the name followed the onomastic pattern of creating names for local, family businesses in Poland, suggesting the personal contribution and involvement of the founders and/or collaborators. The sound of the resulting acronym coincidentally alludes to the phenomenological concept of perception of reality (jawa being the Polish word for wakefulness and reality) and the name of a large island in Southeast Asia. JaWa mainly offers services in the fields of gardening and carpentry. The choice of these fields was dictated by the need to return to the chosen and learned professions of the two co-workers.

A social enterprise is a specific type of economic entity in whose activities neither profits nor their maximisation come to the fore. For this reason, one of the basic tenets of the enterprise described here is the principle of 'working at one's own pace'. Adhering to this principle while operating in today's service market may pose a threat to any profitability. On the other hand, however, it opens up new possibilities for the order selection system, such as eliminating stressful orders with short lead times. As it fortunately turns out, there is a certain zone of time-sensitive orders and friendly commissioners who are 'in no hurry' and who/who treat as an interesting adventure the invitation to reflect on the phenomenon of building expectations, making demands, but above all on the risks of working with JaWa. The performative installation is a more or less documentary record of the history of the company and some narratively simple examples of local and so-called delegated orders.

concept, execution and performance: Turkowski & Nowacka
participants: Jan Rozpędzik, Waldemar Wieczorek, Artur Czechowicz, Dariusz Mikuła, Adam Ziajski, Dorota Kwinta, Iwona Nowacka, Janek Turkowski
support: Teatr Kana, JaWa Social Enterprise
special thanks to: Alina Gałązka, Grzegorz Laszuk, Szymon Olbrychowski
construction and implementation of the half-object: Piotr Szczygielski
nature consultancy: Jarema Rabiński
production: Olga Kozińska / Komuna Warszawa

Production co-financed by the Municipality of the Capital City of Warsaw as part of the KW Culture HUB project.

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