Publikacja udostępniana jest na licencji Creative Commons.
conceived by Marta Czyż & Open Group:
Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Anton Varga
editorial coordination: Dorota Karaszewska
graphic design: Janek Bersz
translation from the Polish: Soren Gauger, Łukasz Mojsak
translation from the Ukrainian: Iryna Kurhanska
editing: Małgorzata Jurkiewicz, Soren Gauger
image editing: Iwo Rutkiewicz
Publication date: 20.04.2024
Repeat after Me II is a collective portrait of witnesses of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The videos presented were created in 2022 and 2024. All the protagonists are civilian refugees speaking of the war through the sounds of weapons they remember, then inviting the audience to repeat after them. The artists use the karaoke format. Yet here the accompaniment is not hit songs, it is shots, missiles, howling, and explosions, and the lyrics are descriptions of deadly firearms. This is the soundtrack of the war. The juxtaposition of works from 2022 and 2024 shows the drastic perseverance of memory, as well as the changes in technology. The first video was shot in a camp for ‘domestic refugees’ outside of Lviv. The second work was created outside of Ukraine, in locations that were safe for the participants. Yet even beyond the reach of the marathon of sirens, the sounds of war remain part of their trauma and symbolically widen their scope.
-
20.04 – 24.11.2024Repeat after Me II60th International Art Exhibition in VeniceRepeat after Me II is an audiovisual video installation created by the Ukrainian Open Group collective. The group’s work is based on exploring interaction between people and contextual spaces, creating the so-called open situations. Performativity and cooperation with viewers and participants are important parts of their work. They have tackled the subject of war on several occasions, ever since the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation began their military operations in the southeast of Ukraine in 2014. Open Group’s projects are created through a long process, and their works’ themes are always intersecting.
Polish Pavilion at the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di VeneziaPolish Pavilion at the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
