Photos by Bartosz Górka

The project of the Ukrainian artistic association "Open Group" and the Polish curator Marta Chizh will represent Poland at the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, as reported by The Guardian.

The biennale will showcase a video installation titled "Repeat After Me" about forced migrants from eastern Ukraine who have settled in a temporary camp in Lviv. The video's protagonists share their war experiences by recreating sounds of various weapons, artillery shelling, or sirens.

In "Repeat After Me," forced migrants Alla, Antonina, Boris, Katerina, Irina, Olena, Svitlana, and Yuri participated. The members of the "Open Group" association include artists Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, and Anton Varga.

The "Open Group" project secured the second place in the selection for the Venice Biennale 2024. However, the Polish artistic community criticized the project that took the first place for its "excessive bias towards the narrative of national victimhood."

The video installation "Repeat After Me" is a continuation of the work created by Ukrainian artists in 2022. The project can be seen at the Jam Factory art center in Lviv until March 10, 2024.

The 60th International Art Exhibition will take place from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November, 2024 (pre-opening on April 17, 18 and 19), curated by Adriano Pedrosa. This year's Venice Biennale will take place under the overarching theme "‘Foreigners Everywhere."