Lesia Pcholka is a Belarusian visual artist based between Berlin/DE and Bielsk Podlaski/PL. Founder and director of the VEHA archive. Part of Swamp.center

Pcholka’s practice brings together archival methods, collective memoriesy, and historical continuities to show explore how the past shapes contemporary life in Belarus and beyond. Through photography, video, and installation, she explores the tension between official narratives and undocumented histories, focusing on voices often silenced. Her work situates Belarus within a broader comparative frame, tracing parallels with other authoritarian contexts while also probing spaces of resistance. Exile sharpens her attention to displacement, belonging, and fragile memory, while gender perspectives inform her sensitivity to embodied experience and power. By mobilizing community archives and approaches in experimental storytelling, Pcholka creates layered narratives that move between personal and political, private and collective — reimagining how histories can be remembered and resisted.

Although trained in academic painting at an art school and holding a degree in Social Psychology from Minsk Innovation University, Pcholka developed her artistic language largely outside institutional frameworks through self-organized initiatives and long-term collaboration with communities and informal archives. She is an alumna of ArtPlatform by the European Cultural Foundation (2018–2019) and the Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme (2020).

In 2017, she founded the VEHA Archive, a platform dedicated to researching, preserving, and activating vernacular photography as a key element of Belarusian visual culture. Her work has been presented internationally at institutions and festivals including Belvedere 21 (Vienna), KVOST (Berlin), Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (Paris), CENTQUATRE-PARIS / Circulation(s) Festival, Copenhagen Photo Festival, and The Other Session during the 60th Venice Biennale. She is the author of several photobooks, including Descent into the Marsh (2024), which was shortlisted for the Henri Cartier-Bresson Self-Published Photobook Award (2026). Her works are held in the collections of the Günter Grass Gallery (Gdańsk), IoDeposito Gallery (Italy), and the Mochnarte Foundation (Poland), and her projects have been featured in international media including BBC, Magnum Photos, EIKON, post MOMA, GUP Magazine, The Calvert Journal, BLOK, The Strike Newspaper, SZUM, KubaParis, Contemporary Art Library.

Portfolio :

RESIDENCES

2025 – Gaude Polonia, Narodowe Centrum Kultury. Host Arsenal Gallery / Bialystok, PL

2024 – Weltoffenes Berlin, Fellowship-Programm. Host ZUSA / Berlin, DE

2023 – IASPIS. The International Artists Studio Program / Stockholm, SE

2022
– FLOW / PRZEPŁYW (Wisła river, Poland)
– Q21. MuseumsQuartier / Vienna, AT

2021
– ICORN. Host Gallery Günter Grass / Gdansk, PL
– Brno AIR. House of Arts / Brno, CZ
– Galeria Arsenal AIR / Bialystok, PL

2019 – Gaude Polonia, Narodowe Centrum Kultury. Host Fundacja Archeologia Fotografii / Warsaw, PL

BOOK

2024 – DESCENT INTO THE MARSH. Belarus and Hong Kong. ISBN 978-3-00-081038-1

AWARDS

2026 – Shortlist, Henri Cartier-Bresson Seld-Published PhotoBook Award. Book Descent into the Marsh

2025 – Longlist, Ales Adamovich Award (PEN Belarus). Book Descent into the Marsh

2017
– PRAFOTA, ART photography category. Series I'm Not Here / CECH Gallery, Belarus
– PRAFOTA, Digital storytelling. Video: Execution by a Drop of Water / CECH Gallery, Belarus

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025 – Heavier than Air. Curator Zofia nierodzińska / MOS. Gorzowie Wlkp., PL
2024 – Great Stone. Curators Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair, Wolfgang Obermair / Hoast space. Vienna, AT
2022 – Weakness Street. Curator Anna Łazar / Günter Grass Gallery. Gdańsk, PL
2016 – Visual Diary / National Centre of Contemporary Arts. Minsk, BY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026
– Softshell Archipel. Curators Hoast space. Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair, Wolfgang Obermair / Gallery 5020. Salzburg, AT
– BOLD. The Self-Published Photobook Weekend / Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. Paris, FR

2025
– Headlong. The beaver tumbled down the slope / Curator Ewa Tatar. Arsenal Gallery. Bialystok, PL
– I am Pfeilstorch. Festiwal SAMASIEJ. Curator Uladzimir Hramovich / Bialystok University of Technology. Bialystok, PL
– Un-packing: Memory Gaps. Curator Olga Mzhelskaya / Fundacja Art Square. Teatr Dramatyczny. Warsaw. PL
– IPMA Festival. Curator Carine Dolek / Kaunas, LT
– CANCAN BIENNALE #1. Curator Aline Montaigne / Espace Saint-Nicolas. Coutances, FR
– Festival Circulation(s). Curators Collectif Fetartt / CENTQUATRE-PARIS. Paris, FR
– XY 2025 : Berlin in Olomouc. Curators Radka Částková, Hana Kurková, Anna Sýsová / Basement Studio. Olomouc, CZ

2024
– Long-distance Relationships. Curators Zofia nierodzińska, Stephan Koal / KVOST. Berlin, DE
– United Nations. Curator Joanna Szumacher / Galeria WY. Łódź, PL
– Sometimes i hold onto the air. Curators Katharina von Hagenow, Uladzimir Hramovich, Paulina Olszewska / Galerie im Körnerpark. Berlin, DE
– The OTHER SESSION. During the 60th Venice Biennale. Curators David Liver, Michael Kaethler. Docks Cantieri Cucchini. Venice, IT
– We’ll Hold a Wedding on Your Graves. Beyond VEHA photographic archive. Curator Vera Zalutskaya / Copenhagen Photo Festival. Pop Up. Copenhagen. DK
– Borders in Zenit. Curator Katarzyna Rózniak-Szabelska / Społem fest. Club Zenit. Bialystok, PL
– FLOW/PRZEPŁYW / Curators Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Ewa Ciepielewska, Emilia Orzechowska / Centrum Sztuki Galeria EL. Elbląg, PL

2023
– On the New. Curators Hoast artist-run space. Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair, Wolfgang Obermair / Belvedere 21. Museum of Contemporary Art. Vienna, AT
– Let it shine. Beyond VEHA photographic archive. Curator Vera Zalutskaya / MOS. Gorzów Wielkopolski, PL
– Performensk/platformB: Liminarium. Curator Anna Bakinovskaia / Theaterhaus. Stuttgart, DE
– 21. SURVIVAL Art Review ERZAC. Curators Fundacja Art Transparent. Michał Bieniek, Anna Kołodziejczyk, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Ewa Pluta, Daniel Brożek / Wroclaw, PL

2022
– BY LAW. SUPLEMENT. Curator Maksymilian Bochenek / Museum of Emigration. Gdynia, PL
– VERSSchmuggel Belarus Deutschland. Curator Louise Walleneit / Gallery Intershop. Leipzig, DE
– Distant Tolerable Murder project. Collaboration with artist Valentyna Petrova. Curators Anna Łazar, Lada Nakonechna / Berlin, DE
– No.10. Alumni of the Sputnik Photos Mentor Program. Curator Jan Brykczyński / FAF Gallery. Warsaw, PL
– The Code of Presence: Belarusian Protest Embroideries and Textile Patterns. Curator Sasha Razor / University of Michigan Library. Michigan, USA
– Echoes. Voices from Belarus III. Curator Christine Fischer / ECLAT Hybrid Festival. Hospitalhof church. Stuttgart, DE

2021
– OPA #12. Curator Sylwester Galuschka / Kolonia Artystów. Gdansk, PL
– Belarus – Screams of the Silenced / The Grey Space in the Middle. Den Haag, NL
– War, Revolution and Protest in the Female Lens. Curators Iwona Demko, Renata Kopyto / Dom Norymberski. Krakow, PL
– Every Day. Art. Solidarity. Resistance. Curators Aleksei Borisionok, Andrei Dureika, Marina Naprushkina, Sergey Shabohin, Antonina Stebur, Maxim Tyminko. Mystetskyi Arsenal. Kyiv, UA
– Białoruś: Marsz Wolności. Curator Joanna Kinowska / Kordegarda. Warsaw, PL
– Practicing Revolution. Curators Marina Naprushkina, Agnieszka Kilian / Sinema Transtopia. Berlin, DE

2020
– Not/funny pictures. Curator Lizaveta Michalchuk / KX Space. Brest, BY
– Belarusian Sundays in Red and White / Henry Dunant Museum. Heiden, SE

2018
– Mater Materia. Curator Lizaveta Michalchuk / KX Space. Brest, BY
– Triennial of Photography Hamburg. OSTLOOK. Curator Jewgeni Roppel / Gallery 21. Hamburg, DE

2017
– Hold on. Let go. Curator Franca Wohlt / AFF Gallery. Berlin, DE
– Memory Lands. Curator Chiara Isadora Artico / B#SIDE War Festival. Treviso, IT
– One Can Not Be Too Careful. Curated by Ania PsH, Raddy Junova, Rodina art group / Lock In Gallery. Brighton, UK
– PRAFOTA 2017. Curated by Anna Shpakova / CECH Gallery. Minsk, BY
– Work Hard! Play Hard! Transmission. Palianina-Pcholka / Minsk, BY

2016 – To be like I. Curator Zhanna Gladko / Gallery Ў. Minsk, BY
2013 – Structuring. Curator Natalia Harachaja / Gallery Ў. Minsk, BY

ART FAIRS

2024
– BAAM#08, Berlin Artists Art Market / Berlin, DE
– Auction item for the ABC Belarus, online auction
2022
– Stockholm Independent Art Fair, KX Space / Stockholm, SE
2021
– Fundacja Humanosh. Piękna Gallery / Warsaw, PL
2020
– Fundacja Humanosh. Piękna Gallery / Warsaw, PL
– VLADEY, online auction

ARTIST TALK

2025
– Presentation of Descent into the Marsh Book / Galeria Arsenał. Białystok, PL
– XY 2025 : Wedding Party. Pcholka & Hramovich (performance) / Basement Studio. Olomouc, CZ
– Workshop : Wspólne zapomniane / MOS. Miejski Ośrodek Sztuki. Gorzowie Wlkp., PL
– Book Launch: DESCENT INTO THE MARSH / alpha nova & galerie futur. Berlin, DE

2024
– Book Launch: From Belarus to Hong Kong: Visualizing Resistance Across Borders / zusa organisation. Berlin, DE
– Wedding Party. Pcholka & Hramovich (performance) / Gallery KVOST. Berlin, DE
– Gathering with Belarusian Artist and Activist. Gwobean / Hong Kong, HK
– Independent Space Index Festival. Lesia Pcholka, Michaela Geboltsberger. Hoast artist-run space / Vienna, AT

2023
– Artist-talk: Lesia Pcholka. Konstepidemin. Gothenburg, SE
– IASPIS OPEN STUDIOS SPRING
– WATCH DOCS Festiwal : Akademia Sztuki Protestu. Dyskusja po projekcji filmu Hongkong mixtape. Sztuka protestu (participation in the discussion) / Warsaw, PL

2022
— BY LAW. SUPLEMENT: Lesia Pcholka & Uladzimir Hramovich (artist talk). Moderated by Alicja Jelińska / Museum of Emigration, Gdynia, PL
– SDK Słonecznik, The language of repression is their native language / Warsaw, PL

2021 – AIR : Lesia Pcholka i Uladzimir Hramovich / Galeria Arsenał. Białystok, PL

2019 – Maiden names. Curated by Alina Dzeravianka / MOS. Miejski Ośrodek Sztuki. Gorzowie Wlkp., PL

LINKS

– ICORN. Descent into the Marsh: Lesia Pcholka on Protest, Unity, and the Power of Visibility (interview) 2025
– Sekktor.online (interview) 2025
– Machinery of Dissent: People and Technology in Political Protests in Autocracies, by Alesia Rudnik (photos). 2025
– NN6T #164. Bogna Świątkowska : Wyobraźnia buntu, 2025
– Variant Magazine. Belarusian Constellation / Jon Blackwood. 2025
– FAZ. Unsere Heimat ist weg, und wir bekommen sie nicht zurück : Yelizaveta Landenberger, 2025
– Illustrations for Antologia. Literatura na uchodźstwie, published by the Willa Decjusza Institute of Culture and ICORN, 2025
– ARTMARGINS. Snapshot Dialogue : Sasha Razor (interview) 2024
– NEWEAST. Lesia Pcholka and Uladzimir Hramovich: In bureaucratic terms, we are nobody to each other (interview) 2024
– Hjärnstorm magazine #156. REPRESSIONENS MINNE: EN ARKIVERAD BELARUSISK VARDAG, 2024
– EIKON art magazine (photos) 978-3-904083-16-4, 2023
– Post MoMA. On Forms of Political Organizing Illuminating the Future. Inga Lāce, Aleksei Borisionok and Anna Chistoserdova (photos) / The Museum of Modern Art, NY. 2021
– Poetic Dissident. IoDeposito B#S Gallery / Treviso, IT. 2021
– Book: NO.10 Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme. 2021
– A-P-P #5. The Strike Newspaper #5. Archiwum Protestów Publicznych, 2021
– pARTisanka magazine #34, ISBN 978-985-7209-27-9 (esse). 2020
– Magnumphotos / Magnum Flow, protests in Belarus : Rafal Milach, 2020

LESIA PCHOLKA