Open Group
Repeat After Me II
Serlachius Manor 12 April — 20 July 2025
Ukrainian refugees invite us to repeat the sounds of war.
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 II (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 core 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 II (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.
Open Group
Оpen Group was founded in August 2012 in Lviv by six Ukrainian artists. Artists are involved in Open Group until the project in which they are taking part is completed. 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. Open Group’s members have also run independent art spaces.
Open Group won a Special Prize at the PinchukArtCentre Prize in 2013, and the Main Prize in 2015. Their works were featured at the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition in Venice. In 2016, the Open Group curated a show entitled Dependence Degree, Collective Practices of Young Ukrainian Artists 2000–2016 (Wrocław, Poland). In 2017, the group’s work was presented as part of the Future Generation Art Prize@Venice 2017 (an event accompanying the 57th Biennale). In 2019, the Open Group was the curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 58th Biennale. In 2024, the Open Group will represent Poland at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with the Repeat after Me II project.
Please note that due to a private event in the Kivijärvi Hall, the work is not on show on Saturday 24 May 2025.
Image: Open Group, Repeat After Me II, 2024, still image from the video.
