Repeat After Me

How to tell, in an empathetic way, about the horrors of war without showing destroyed cities or mutilated bodies? In their video installation Repeat After Me (2022 & 2024), the Ukrainian artist collective Open Group invites in front of their cameras Ukrainian civilians who fled Russia’s illegal war of aggression. They briefly introduce themselves to the viewers of the video and then replay the sounds of alarm sirens, rockets, artillery emplacements and other weapon systems. 

The sounds of war, which are part of the everyday life of nearly all Ukrainians, are presented in the installation in a karaoke-like way, and visitors are invited to try to repeat the sounds themselves. The memories of violence, the emotions associated with bombings, and concrete means of survival touch exhibition visitors who have not experienced war in a tangible way.

Open Group is an artist collective founded in Lviv, western Ukraine in 2012. Its current members are Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach and Anton Varga. With its work, the group wants to create “open situations” in which connections between communities, social problems, and collective experiences between generations are explored. 

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Open Group has focused in its works and projects on addressing the traumas of war. Two versions of Repeat After Me (2022 and 2024) have recently been shown at many major contemporary art events, including the Venice Biennale (2024) and Ars Electronica in Linz (2024). The Mänttä exhibition is the group’s first presentation in the Nordic countries. The exhibition is curated by Pauli Sivonen.

Image: Open Group, Repeat After Me, 2024, still image from the video.