In a complex, multipolar world where economic, political, and cultural agendas collide and overlap, the exhibition ETAT BRUIT focuses on contemporary artists who engage with this challenging and noisy environment, placing sound at the heart of their reflection — and therefore, their artistic practice.

The Polish Institute in Brussels supports curator Marta Czyż and the Ukrainian collective Open Group in presenting their project Repeat after me II — an attempt to reveal the cruelty of war. To bring audiences closer to the experience of witnessing the war in Ukraine, the artists employ a karaoke format. Here, the “music” consists of the sounds of gunfire, artillery, and explosions, while the sung words — performed by civilians temporarily displaced from various regions of Ukraine to a refugee camp — invite viewers to actively engage.

Conceived initially for the Polish Pavilion, this project seeks to break the passivity with which we often consume wartime narratives as distant listeners.

28 March – 20 September 2026
29 boulevard Prince Henri, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
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About Open Group

Permanent members (since 2019): Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Anton Varga. Their works are often structured as what they call “open situations” — experimental explorations of human interaction within specific spaces. Deeply engaged with current sociopolitical realities, their practice transforms the intersection between personal experience and urgent global issues into diverse visual forms.

Open Group has received, among others, a Special Mention (2013) and the Main Prize (2015) of the PinchukArtCentre Prize. Their works have been shown at the Venice Biennale (including curating the Ukrainian Pavilion in 2019 and representing Poland in 2024 with Repeat after me II), as well as at BOZAR (Brussels), Zachęta (Warsaw), High Line (New York), and Ludwig Museum (Budapest).
More info: http://open-group.org.ua/en/about-us

Marta Czyż

Art historian, critic, and independent curator based in Warsaw. Curator of the Polish Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024) featuring Open Group. She has specialized in Ukrainian art since 2019.

Major exhibitions: CCA Ujazdowski, Zachęta, Society of Discouragement (2022).
In 2015, she co-authored (with Julia Wielgus) the book In the Frame of the Exhibition – Conversations with Curators.
Recipient of a Polish Ministry of Culture scholarship and member of AICA.

Instagram: @martulious