The Polish Pavilion transforms the pain of the Ukrainian conflict into a powerful participatory installation, a sensory and reflective experience that invites us to remember and share the weight of human tragedy.
A reflection on the tragedy of the Ukraine War: Repeat After Me II is an innovative project by Ukrainian art collective Open Group. At the centre of the audio-video installation are the stories of civilian refugees, whose voices convey the reality of excruciating, though sadly common, experiences. Using samples of the sound of weapons, the protagonists offer a powerful, direct testimony of the ongoing war. This noise – from missiles to machine gun sound – are played for the audience, and they in turn are invited to repeat them, thus creating an environment of empathy and connection. This interaction is a sort of ‘military karaoke’, a way to turn the horror into something we can see and feel, together with the desperation induced by the war. Some of the art dates back to 2022, reminding us how long the war has been going on, and how the military industry evolved. A leaflet issued by the Ministry of Culture instructs civilians how to recognize weapons by sound, and how to act in each situation – a chilling reminder of what daily life looks like in conflict zones.
