Program
KAF
13.06–31.08.2025
„Repeat After Me II” – The Sound Length of War. Open Group’s Poignant Artistic Manifesto Against Forgetting
After a tremendous success at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the project Repeat After Me II by the Ukrainian collective Open Group has arrived in Poland. Curated by Marta Czyż, the exhibition—originally presented at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art—is a powerful audiovisual installation that gives voice to civilian witnesses of the war in Ukraine. Starting June 13, 2025, the installation will be presented in the heart of Wrocław, at the Krupa Art Foundation.
Karaoke of War Sounds
At the core of the exhibition are two films created in 2022 and 2024. The protagonists—civilian refugees from Ukraine—reproduce from memory the sounds of war: gunfire, explosions, sirens, the crackle of shelling. These sounds are not mere background—they become the main narrative element, encouraging viewers to repeat them. The karaoke format, typically associated with entertainment, is radically transformed here: instead of pop hits—lethal weapon sounds; instead of amusement—a memory of survival.
From Internal Displacement to Global Trauma
The 2022 film documents the lives of so-called internally displaced persons—those who moved from eastern to western Ukraine. The newer 2024 production shifts the narrative to a global dimension—the protagonists speak from places such as Wrocław, Berlin, Vienna, Vilnius, Tullamore (Ireland), and New York. This change in location broadens the experience: from immediate danger to the trauma of life in exile.
A Universal Refugee Testimony
Although the exhibition focuses on Ukrainian experiences, the stories take on a universal dimension. Refugees recount encounters with Syrians, Afghans, and Palestinians, forming a shared geography of displacement. Open Group reveals that the refugee condition has neither a single nationality nor a fixed location—it is an existential state of those exiled by conflict.
An Aesthetic Between Pop Culture and Wartime Reality
The exhibition’s scenography balances between grotesque and horror: a futuristic karaoke bar with microphones, steel furniture, and red lighting becomes a space where boundaries between entertainment and testimony blur. The audience is invited to participate, making the experience both an exercise in empathy and an act of remembrance.
Repeat After Me – Because This Must Be Heard
Repeat After Me II does not allow us to forget. It is not only a record of wartime trauma but also a sensory document—chiefly auditory. It is a political and emotional act: a reminder that war is not only about images, but also about sounds that remain in the body forever. As one of the exhibition’s protagonists says:
“Repeat after me, so that you hear—and never forget.”
OPEN GROUP
Open Group – Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Anton Varga is a Ukrainian collective founded in 2012 in Lviv, and since 2015 it has been scattered across different countries, with members living in Ukraine, Poland, Germany and the United States.
They held solo exhibitions at institutions including Zachęta — National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2025); Serlachius, Mänttä, Finland (2025); Kulturdrogerie, Wien, Austria (2023); HB Station, Guangzhou, Сhina (2023); Labirynt gallery, Lublin, Poland (2022); Аrsenal gallery, Białystok, Poland (2017); PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv, Ukraine (2014); Closer art centre, Kyiv, Ukraine (2013). Open Group works were presented at group exhibitions in Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland (2025); 8th Yokohama Triennale, Japan (2024); Salzgasse Albertinum in Dresden, Germany (2023); 4th Autostrada Biennale Prizren, Kosovo (2023); Belvedere 21 Museum of Contemporary Art in Wien, Austria (2023); ARS AEVI the Museum of contemporary art in Sarajevo (2023); Miguel Abreu Gallery in New York, USA (2022); Ludwig Museum Budapest, Hungary (2018); National Art Museum Kyiv, Ukraine (2016); Kyiv Biennial, Ukraine (2015); Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, Germany (2015); PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, Ukraine (2014), amongst others.
Their works were featured at the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale 2015. In 2016, the Open Group curated the show entitled “Dependence Degree, Collective Practices of Young Ukrainian Artists 2000-2016” BWA Awangarda (Wrocław, Poland). In 2017, the group’s work was presented in frames of the Future Generation Art Prize@Venice 2017 (collateral events of the 57th Venice Biennale). In 2019, the Open Group was the curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 58th La Biennale di Venezia. In 2024, the Open Group was representing Poland at the 60th Venice Biennale with the project “Repeat after me II”. The artist’s works are in the collections of the KADIST, Paris (France) and San Francisco (USA); Zachęta — National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (Poland); ARS AEVI, the Museum of contemporary art in Sarajevo; MOCA NGO/ Ukrainian Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA) collection, Kyiv (Ukraine); National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv; Museum of Contemporary Art in Kherson (Ukraine) and in private collections.
MARTA CZYŻ – CURATOR
Art historian, independent curator, critic. Lives and works in Warsaw. Curator of the Polish Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 with an exhibition by the Ukrainian collective Open Group (Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Anton Varga) – Repeat After Me II.
Her practice draws on archives and recent developments in art history to influence culture and social movements. She researches the history of exhibitions in Poland and the profession of curator. Since 2019 she is focused on Ukrainian art.
She graduated in Art History faculty in Warsaw University, curatorial studies in Jagiellonian University in Cracow. She was also participating in the Erasmus program in Freie Universitat in Berlin. She has realised her exhibitions at the CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, BWA Zielona Góra (Poland), MOS Gorzów (Poland), and the National Museum in Szczecin (Poland) and other. In 2020, she curated the 10th Contexts Festival of Ephemeral Arts in Sokolowsko (Poland) and the 9th Youth Triennale at the Centre for Polish Sculpture in Oronsko (Poland). In 2022 she created the exhibition “Society of Discouragement” at the History Meeting House in Warsaw (with Yuriy Biley). She regularly publishes texts for the catalogues and in the art and opinion press (Dwutygodnik, Vogue Polska, Polityka, miejmiejsce, Wysokie Obcasy, Camera Austria, culture.pl). In 2015 she published (together with Julia Wielgus) the book “In the frame of the exhibition – conversations with curators”. Winner (with the Open Group) of the O!Lśnienia award. Scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture. Member of the AICA.
