The exhibition “Ode to Joy” by the Open Group collective (Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovachog, Anton Varga) 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.

Biography