Ukraine, a country in the throes of a crippling conflict with Russia, this year installed a glass pavilion in the middle of one of Venice’s most trafficked streets. The sheer structure is a nod to the country’s plea for political transparency and autonomy. Ukrainian artists Yevgenia Belorusets, Nikita Kadan, Zhanna Kadyrova, Artem Volokitin, Mykola Ridnyi and Serhiy Zhadan, Open Group, and Anna Zvyagintseva explore narratives of freedom, imprisonment, optimism, and fear on both national and personal scales. Here, curator Björn Geldhof explains the stirring power of art in a nation seeking hope.