once a year the stick shoots
On the third day of the Nobody Reads This: Art Book Fair, on 24 May 2026, at 12:00 p.m., a discussion will take place about the photobook once a year the stick shoots by Natalia Wiernik and Nastasia Leliuk, published by the Blow Up Press. Grzegorz Kosmala will moderate the discussion with the artists.
once a year the stick shoots is a moving photographic project created by two photographers from Poland and Ukraine, who together explore how war shapes our perception of image, language, and symbols. The title is a play on words: in English, “to shoot” means both “to sprout” and “to fire a weapon.” Against a stark black background, as if on a stage stripped bare of scenery, branches resembling rifles juxtaposed with real assault weapons. This contrast is unsettling, juxtaposing the innocence of childhood play with the cruelty of war. The book was designed by Aneta Kowalczyk.
