The exhibition “Repeat After Me II” will remain on display at the Polish Pavilion until 24 November 2024, as part of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. “Repeat After Me II” is a collective portrait of witnesses to the ongoing war in Ukraine, presented as an audiovisual installation. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is a partner of the project.
“Repeat After Me II” – Audiovisual Installation Featuring Witness Accounts of the War in Ukraine
The exhibition “Repeat After Me II” portrays a collective depiction of witnesses to the ongoing war in Ukraine through an audiovisual installation. The installation consists of two video works recorded in 2022 and 2024. The recordings tell the stories of Ukrainian refugees who recount their experiences through the sounds they heard during the fighting and remembered. The audience is then invited to repeat what they have heard.
The artists use a karaoke format in the project, but instead of the accompaniment of well-known hits, the audience hears gunshots, cannon fire, howls, and explosions. The lyrics to be “sung” consist of descriptions of deadly weapons, creating a kind of soundtrack to war. The war is presented as a collective experience, independent of age, origin, or professional and social status.
Open Group Collective and Curator Marta Czyż Co-Create Another Polish Pavilion in Venice
This year’s exhibition at the Polish Pavilion in Venice is a joint project of the Open Group collective and curator Marta Czyż. The Open Group collective was founded in August 2012 in Lviv by six Ukrainian artists. The structure of the group has evolved over the years; currently, its permanent members are Yuriy Biley (Wroclaw/Berlin), Pavlo Kovach (Lviv), and Anton Varga (New York). Marta Czyż, who co-created this year’s Polish Pavilion with the Open Group, is an art historian, independent curator, critic, writer on contemporary art, and activist. She has been working with the Open Group collective since 2020.
The Polish Pavilion project responds to the theme of the 60th edition of Biennale Arte, which is “Foreigners Everywhere”.
The curator of the Polish Pavilion and organiser of the exhibition at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is Zachęta – National Gallery of Art. Poland has participated in the Biennale Arte with an exhibition in its own pavilion since 1932, and in the Biennale Architettura since 1991. The construction of the Polish Pavilion in Venice was financed by the Polish government in the 1930s, and it remains its property to this day.
Graphic design: Full Metal Jacket
The exhibition opened on 20 April 2024 and runs through 24 November 2024.
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute invites you to view the gallery from the exhibition available at Culture.pl.