Кадр з відэаінсталяцыі Юры Шуста «Пазацелавы досвед, Вандроўны дух» (2026). Фота прадастаўлена галерэяй «Захэнта».
From July 17 to Sept. 27, 2026, the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw will host the solo exhibition Yury Shust (Jura Shust), “Resin* Solar Plexus” (“Żywica* Splot słoneczny”). The exhibition explores the connections between human spirituality, modern technologies and nature, with one of its central elements being a performance involving Belarusian migrants.
The project is rooted in the unique borderland shared by Poland, Belarus and Lithuania, where different cultures and belief systems have intersected for centuries. Drawing on ethnobotany and folk animism, the artist reimagines the Białowieża Forest as a sacred place where trees once served as intermediaries between worlds. At the same time, Shust also reveals the forest’s darker dimension—as a space for the development of military technologies, surveillance and control.
Created specifically for the gallery space, Shust’s exhibition features a multi-channel installation combining video, sound and objects made from natural materials. Among them is a 15-metre spruce tree integrated directly into the exhibition space.
Exhibition curator Michalina Sablik says that Yury Shust’s artistic practice focuses on the paradoxes of the future.
“The artist shows how artificial intelligence is gradually taking over functions once attributed to rituals, mythologies and spiritual practices—it explains the world and gives it meaning. Moreover, it becomes the fulfilment of dreams of out-of-body existence or interspecies communication. At the same time, it is often used for purposes driven by the profits of particular groups or military development. It is a fascinating paradox!” she says.
A separate section of the exhibition is devoted to the dramatic events unfolding at the border, including militarisation and the migration crisis. This theme is explored through the performance “Birds with Human Heads”, created by Shust together with Belarusian emigrants now living in Poland. Through the practice of glossolalia and ancient beliefs, the artist reflects on the experience of the diaspora and the search for new forms of communication. The performance will be presented during the exhibition opening on July 16.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a special educational programme including guided tours, poetry evenings, workshops and botanical walks, organised in part in cooperation with the Belarusian community in Warsaw.
Yury Shust is a Belarusian artist who lives and works in Berlin. His practice combines political activism and biopolitics. His works have been exhibited at major international venues in New York, Gwangju, Kyiv, Vilnius and other cities. In 2025, his film Pine Cone Seeds was acquired for the collection of the Museum of Art in Łódź.
The exhibition opens on July 16 at 7:00 p.m. at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw (pl. Małachowskiego 3).