Opening: Ode to Joy
A warm welcome to the opening of the exhibiton Ode to Joy by the Ukranian artist collective Open Group on Friday the 5th of June at 18:00 in Nýló. The exhibtion is a part of the Reykjavík Arts Festival and curated by Marta Czyż.
The exhibition “Ode to Joy” by the Open Group collective draws on the experience of the war in Ukraine, but its true focus is the question of the contemporary community—its boundaries, conditions, and very possibility of existence. The European anthem “Ode to Joy” serves as a point of reference here. At a time when it unites the European Union around the ideas of peace and solidarity, Ukraine continues to fight for its independence. This dissonance is not merely a political fact; it becomes an experience that permeates artistic practice and reveals the deep tensions inherent in the European project. It is precisely within this tension that Open Group’s activities are situated. By placing the concept of “collective work” at the center of their practice, the artists create projects based on collaboration with people from diverse backgrounds, realized in specific contexts and at specific times. Their works often take the form of “open situations”—experimental arrangements in which people and spaces meet, and meaning emerges through the process of participation. Community here is neither given nor stable; it reveals itself as a relationship that must be constantly negotiated.
In this sense, “Ode to Joy” does not so much illustrate the reality of war as it reveals its consequences on the level of individual and collective experience. As a result of months of fighting, violence, and uncertainty, the people of Ukraine are experiencing fear, trauma, and displacement. War also means material losses—disappearing apartments, houses, museums, infrastructure, and cultural heritage. Artists attempt to capture these moments of loss, both visible and invisible, transforming them into forms that allow them to be shared and processed. Against this backdrop, the European project reveals its ambivalence. Emerging from the catastrophes of the 20th century—two world wars, the Holocaust, and forced migrations—it was meant to be a space that prevents the recurrence of violence. However, contemporary war shows that history is not closed, and the idea of unity remains fragile and incomplete. The question of Europe—what it is and where its borders lie—no longer concerns only geography or politics, but also responsibility and the capacity for empathy.
In this context, “Ode to Joy” becomes not only a response to the idea of European unity, but also a test of it. It shows that community does not exist as a permanent structure, but reveals itself in moments of crisis as something that has yet to be created. Brotherhood, present in the symbolism of the “ode,” ceases to be an abstract ideal and becomes a concrete striving to restore peace. The very origins of the European anthem, derived from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the words of Friedrich Schiller, are also significant here. It carries an Enlightenment vision of universal brotherhood, based on the belief in a common human nature. Contemporary philosophical reflection, however, challenges this universality, pointing to its historical limitations and exclusions. “Ode to Joy,” as a symbol of unity, thus reveals itself as a space of tension between the declared community and actual power structures, between inclusion and exclusion, between the ideal and its political reality. The works of the Open Group do not resolve these contradictions but rather bring them to light. They show that community is not something we possess, but something that happens in relation, in experience, and also in moments of crisis.
A warm welcome to the opening of the exhibiton Ode to Joy by the Ukranian artist collective Open Group on Friday the 5th of June at 18:00 in Nýló. The exhibtion is a part of the Reykjavík Arts Festival and curated by Marta Czyż.
The exhibition “Ode to Joy” by the Open Group collective draws on the experience of the war in Ukraine, but its true focus is the question of the contemporary community—its boundaries, conditions, and very possibility of existence. The European anthem “Ode to Joy” serves as a point of reference here. At a time when it unites the European Union around the ideas of peace and solidarity, Ukraine continues to fight for its independence. This dissonance is not merely a political fact; it becomes an experience that permeates artistic practice and reveals the deep tensions inherent in the European project. It is precisely within this tension that Open Group’s activities are situated. By placing the concept of “collective work” at the center of their practice, the artists create projects based on collaboration with people from diverse backgrounds, realized in specific contexts and at specific times. Their works often take the form of “open situations”—experimental arrangements in which people and spaces meet, and meaning emerges through the process of participation. Community here is neither given nor stable; it reveals itself as a relationship that must be constantly negotiated.
In this sense, “Ode to Joy” does not so much illustrate the reality of war as it reveals its consequences on the level of individual and collective experience. As a result of months of fighting, violence, and uncertainty, the people of Ukraine are experiencing fear, trauma, and displacement. War also means material losses—disappearing apartments, houses, museums, infrastructure, and cultural heritage. Artists attempt to capture these moments of loss, both visible and invisible, transforming them into forms that allow them to be shared and processed. Against this backdrop, the European project reveals its ambivalence. Emerging from the catastrophes of the 20th century—two world wars, the Holocaust, and forced migrations—it was meant to be a space that prevents the recurrence of violence. However, contemporary war shows that history is not closed, and the idea of unity remains fragile and incomplete. The question of Europe—what it is and where its borders lie—no longer concerns only geography or politics, but also responsibility and the capacity for empathy.
In this context, “Ode to Joy” becomes not only a response to the idea of European unity, but also a test of it. It shows that community does not exist as a permanent structure, but reveals itself in moments of crisis as something that has yet to be created. Brotherhood, present in the symbolism of the “ode,” ceases to be an abstract ideal and becomes a concrete striving to restore peace. The very origins of the European anthem, derived from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the words of Friedrich Schiller, are also significant here. It carries an Enlightenment vision of universal brotherhood, based on the belief in a common human nature. Contemporary philosophical reflection, however, challenges this universality, pointing to its historical limitations and exclusions. “Ode to Joy,” as a symbol of unity, thus reveals itself as a space of tension between the declared community and actual power structures, between inclusion and exclusion, between the ideal and its political reality. The works of the Open Group do not resolve these contradictions but rather bring them to light. They show that community is not something we possess, but something that happens in relation, in experience, and also in moments of crisis.
