LESIA PCHOLKA


Lesia Pcholka is a visual artist born in Belarus, currently lives and works in Berlin/DE and Bielsk Podlaski/PL

Curator of the VEHA archive platform, which is dedicated to researching and preserving vernacular Belarusian archival photography.

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.



PČOŁKA / PCHOLKA / PCZOŁKA


on view : 

les.pcholka@gmail.com




Lesia Pcholka graduated from Minsk Innovation University (2017) with a degree in Social Psychology from the Faculty of Law and completed several Professional Programs, including Biz4all, TNU Network University, and ODB Brussels (2016–2017); the Global Citizenship Program at the European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus, focused on economics, human rights, and contemporary art (2018); ArtPlatform, European Cultural Foundation (2018–2019); Creative Enterprise, Nesta (2018); Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme (2020); the East-European School of Political Studies (2020–2021); Family’s Heritage: How to Understand and Preserve It, European Humanities University (2025); and John Smith Trust, Belarus Leaders in Exile (2025).

From 2009 to 2013, Pcholka worked as a photographer and collaborated with independent Belarusian media. From 2018 to 2020, she was a member of the Belarusian Association of Photographers. In 2017, she founded the VEHA Archive. In 2020–2021, she was a Course Instructor for Visual History of Everyday Life, part of the Public History concentration at the European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus. From 2021 to 2024, she served as a mentor in the Social Camp educational project.

Pcholka's works are part of the collections of the IoDeposito Gallery (Italy), Günter Grass Gallery (Poland), Mochnarte Foundation (Poland) and private collections in Belarus and Germany.



 
RESIDENCES

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

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

2023
– Memory Work. Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung. Host organization CISR e. V. / Berlin, DE
– IASPIS. The International Artists Studio Program / Stockholm, SE

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

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

2020 – Recreation on the Borderland. KX Space / Zalesie, BY 

2019
– SOUND iD project. Ukrainian Cultural Foundation / Slavska, UA
– Gaude Polonia, Narodowe Centrum Kultury. Host Fundacja Archeologia Fotografii / Warsaw, PL 
BOOKS

2025 – VEHA. Ruins of Belarus. ISBN 978-83-66262-30-0, ISBN 978-83-972232-6-4

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

2022 – VEHA. People of the Forest. ISBN 978-83-65133-44-1

2021 – VEHA. Girls’ Night. ISBN 987-985-7209-75-0 and VEHA. Last Photo ISBN 987-985-7209-76-7

2018 – VEHA. Best Side. ISBN 978-985-7165-83-4   


 



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

2024
– 1st Place, Michal Anempadystaw Prize (PEN Belarus). VEHA, Ludzi Lesu

2022
– 1st Place, Biz4all (ODB Brussels & TNU Network University) VEHA Family Book project
– Shortlist, RADA Awards. VEHA project The Best Side, Youth Initiative / Cultural Conservation  

2018
– 3rd Place, Publication of the Year, IMF Award. VEHA The Best Side

2017
– PRAFOTA, ART category. CECH Gallery, Belarus
– 2nd Place, Exhibition / Photo Project of the Year, IMF Award. VEHA The Best Side  
 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS


2025 – Heavier than Air. Curated by Zofia nierodzińska / MOS. Miejski Ośrodek Sztuki. Gorzowie Wlkp., PL
2024 – Great Stone. Curated by Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair and Wolfgang Obermair / Hoast artist-run space. Vienna, AT 
2022 – Weakness Street. Curated by Anna Łazar / Günter Grass Gallery.  Gdańsk, PL  
2016 – Visual Diary. National Centre of Contemporary Arts (Minsk, Belarus)   



GROUP EXHIBITIONS


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

2025
– Head Over Heels. A Beaver Rolled Down a Slope. Curated by Ewa Tatar / Arsenal Gallery. Bialystok, PL
– Festiwal SAMASIEJ. I am Pfeilstorch. Curated by Uladzimir Hramovich / Bialystok University of Technology. Bialystok, PL
Un-packing: Memory Gaps. Curated by Olga Mzhelskaya / Teatr Dramatyczny. Warsaw. PL  
IPMA Festival. Curated by Carine Dolek / Kaunas, LT
CANCAN BIENNALE #1. Curated by Aline Montaigne / Espace Saint-Nicolas. Coutances, FR  
– Festival Circulation(s). Curated by Collectif Fetartt / CENTQUATRE-PARIS. Paris, FR
– BY LAW. XY 2025 : Berlin in Olomouc. Curated by Radka Částková, Hana Kurková, Anna Sýsová / Basement Studio. Olomouc, CZ

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

2023
– On the New. Hoast artist-run space at Belvedere 21. Curated by Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair and Wolfgang Obermair / Belvedere 21. Museum of Contemporary Art. Vienna, AT
– LET IT SHINE. Beyond VEHA Photographic Archive. Curated by Vera Zalutskaya / MOS. Municipal Art Center. Gorzów Wielkopolski, PL
LIMINARIUM. Performensk at PlatformB. Curated by Anna Bakinovskaia / Theaterhaus. Stuttgart, DE
21. SURVIVAL Art Review ERZAC. Fundacja Art Transparent. Curators Michał Bieniek, Anna Kołodziejczyk, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Ewa Pluta, Daniel Brożek / Wroclaw, PL

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

2021
– OPA #12. Curated by 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. Curated by Iwona Demko and Renata Kopyto / Dom Norymberski. Krakow, PL
– Every Day. Art. Solidarity. Resistance. Curated by Aleksei Borisionok, Andrei Dureika, Marina Naprushkina, Sergey Shabohin, Antonina Stebur and Maxim Tyminko / Gallery Mystetskyi Arsenal. Kyiv, UA
– Białoruś: Marsz Wolności. Curated by Joanna Kinowska / Kordegarda Gallery. Warsaw, PL
– Practicing Revolution. Curated by Marina Naprushkina, Agnieszka Kilian / Sinema Transtopia. Berlin, DE
– Freedom, Pain and Hope. Curated by Katja Haustein and Franca Wohlt / KLEISTER. Berlin, DE
Cykl ADAPTACJE. Curated by Marta Gendera, Gustaw Nawrocki and Bartosz Nowak / MOS. Gorzowie Wlkp., PL  
– Echoes. Voices from Belarus. Festival ECLAT / Stuttgart, DE

2020  
– Not/funny pictures. Curated by Lizaveta Michalchuk / KX Space. Brest, BY
– Belarus. Protest. Art. / Gallery 59 Rivoli. Paris, FR
– Belarus: The Square of Change / Perron West. Utrecht, NL
Belarusian Sundays in Red and White / Henry Dunant Museum. Heiden, SE
– Wear Zones. Curated by Lizaveta Michalchuk / KX Space. Brest, BY
– Women United. InterAKT Initiative / Stuttgart. DE 
– FEMINISM IS / Centre of Gender Culture. Kharkov, UA  

2018
– Mater Materia. Curated by Lizaveta Michalchuk / KX Space. Brest, BY
– Here and Now / SQUAT. Minsk, BY 
Triennial of Photography Hamburg. OSTLOOK. Curated by Jewgeni Roppel / Gallery 21. Hamburg, DE

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


2016
– To be like I. Curated by Zhanna Gladko / Gallery of Contemporary art Ў. Minsk, BY
2015 – Seven Dreams L / Pracovna & Laskafe. Prague, CZ
2013
– Structuring. Curated by Natalia Harachaja / Gallery of Contemporary art Ў. Minsk, BY
– Structuring: fragments. Curated by Natalia Harachaja / Gallery of Contemporary art Ў. Minsk, BY



 
ARTIST TALK

2025
– Belarus Lectures: Kunst, Widerstand, Fürsorge: Belarusische feministische Kunst im Exil. Humboldt-Universität, Berlin
– Presentation of Descent into the Marsh Book / Galeria Arsenał. Białystok, PL 
– Book Launch: DESCENT INTO THE MARSH / alpha nova & galerie futur. Berlin, DE
2024
– 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
– Book Launch: VEHA. Ludzi Lesu / Mochnarte Foundation. 2023
– Artist-talk: Lesia Pcholka. Konstepidemin. Gothenburg, SE

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


CURATING

2019 – Polesie. Zofia Chomętowska / Gallery Ratusz, Zamość, PL
ART FAIRS

2024 – BAAM#08, Berlin Artists Art Market / Berlin, DE
2022 – Stockholm Independent Art Fair, KX Space / Stockholm, SE
2021, 2020 – Fundacja Humanosh. Piękna Gallery  
2020 – VLADEY, online auction

 
 

PUBLICATIONS

Online

ICORN. Descent into the Marsh: Lesia Pcholka on Protest, Unity, and the Power of Visibility (interview) 2025
chrysalismag (interview) 2025 
Sekktor.online (interview) 2025
DEKODER. Die Teppiche stehen für den Traum von einem besseren Leben (interview) 2025
Artists at Risk Connection (interview) 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
EASTTOPICS. Lesia Pcholka at hoast (exhibition) 2024
– KubaParis. Groupshow. Sometimes i hold onto the air. Galerie im Körnerpark (exhibition) 2024
DEKODER. Menschen des Waldes (interview) 2024
– URBAN MEMORY SCAPES. The memory of repression in everyday life documents. (Esse) CISR e.V. Berlin platform, 2023
Contemporary Art Library. Weakness Street (exhibition) 2022
– KubaParis. Weakness Street, (exhibition) 2022
– Magazyn SZUM. Review Ulica słabości: Lesi Pczołki w Gdańskiej Galerii Güntera Grassa, 2022
IN PAIRS cycle / KX Space. Brest, BY
ICORN. The Street of Weakness (interview) 2022
– 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
– Magazyn RTV. Pierwsze tygodnie współczesności & 23.34, 2021
– Poetic Dissident. IoDeposito B#S Gallery / Treviso, IT. 2021
DEKODER. Leben und Sterben (interview) 2021
– BBC News. Belarus protesters battered, bruised but defiant after 100 days. 2020
BLOK Magazine. Peaceful Resistance and the Power of Poetic Dissent (photos) 2020
– Magnumphotos / Magnum Flow, protests in Belarus : Rafal Milach, 2020
34mag.net (interview) 2019   
The Calvert Journal. This Belarusian collagist creates dreams out of reality (collage) 2016 
MULL IT OVER (Interview) 2016
GUP Magazine. Winter Flowers (photos)
THE KIOSK OF DEMOCRACY. Winter Flowers (photos) 2016 
Pouch Mag. Issue Two (collages) 2015 



Print

– 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  
– FROM THE FOLDINGS #0. 2024
Hjärnstorm magazine #156. REPRESSIONENS MINNE: EN ARKIVERAD BELARUSISK VARDAG, 2024
EIKON art magazine (photos) 978-3-904083-16-4, 2023
– Book: NO.10 Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme. 2021
Feminist Translocalities Journal (Illustrations), 2021
– pARTisanka magazine #34, ISBN 978-985-7209-27-9 (esse). 2020 
– Zwykla Map. TIFF Festival / Gallery BWA. Wroclaw, PL (2015)

VEHA ARCHIVE PROJECTS

EXHIBITIONS

2024
– Ruins of Belarus. Artist Uladzimir Hramovich. Curated by Katharina von Hagenow. Gallery UQ-BAR-A-BA. Berlin, DE
Flashes of time – Belarusian photography books and zines. Curated by Olga Mzhelskaya. Fotofestiwal Lodz. Art_Inkubator. Lodz, PL
Belarusische Kultur unter Druck. Curated by Laura Worsch / Gallery SomoS Arts. Berlin, DE
We’ll Hold a Wedding on Your Graves. Beyond VEHA Photographic Archive : Kate Ngan Wa Ao · Rozalina Busel · Uladzimir Hramovich · Georg Jagunov · Olga Anna Markowska · Lesia Pcholka · Katarzyna Sienkiewicz. Curated by Vera Zalutskaya. Gallery / POP-UP, Copenhagen Photo Festival. Copenhagen. DK


2023LET IT SHINE. Beyond VEHA Photographic Archive : Kate Ngan Wa Ao · Rozalina Busel · Olga Anna Markowska · Lesia Pcholka · Katarzyna Sienkiewicz. Curated by Vera Zalutskaya / MOS. Municipal Art Center. Gorzów Wielkopolski, PL
– Outdoors show: VEHA archive. Lesia Pcholka. Curated by Denis Romanovski and Mona Wallström / Konstepidemin. Gothenburg, SE

2022Belarusian female artists. Dialog between the generations : Lesia Pcholka. Curated by Maya Hristova and Jewgeni Roppel / Gallery KVOST. Berlin, DE

2021
– Festival SPRAVA. Curated by Maxim Shumilin. Museum of the Belarusian Folk Art. Raubichi, BY

2019
– Maiden names. Curated by Alina Dzeravianka / MOS. Miejski Ośrodek Sztuki. Gorzowie Wlkp., PL
– Tam gdzie Teraz. Curated by Waldemar Tatarczuk / Gallery Galeria Labirynt. Lublin, PL
– Wieczór panieński. Curated by Marta Przybyło / FAF Gallery. Fundacja Archeologia Fotografii. Warsaw, PL
– Dziavočy viečar. Curated by Lizaveta Michalchuk / KX Space. Brest, BY
– Heritagization projekt STATUS. Curated by Alina Dzeravianka/ Galleri 54. Gothenburg, SE

2018
– Dziavočy viečar. Month of Photography in Minsk / The Ў Gallery. Minsk, BY 

2017
– Najlepšy bok. Month of Photography in Minsk / Gallery Canteen XYZ. Minsk, BY 


WORKSHOPS

2024
– The Soft Wisdom of our grannies: crocheting as a stress release practice by Daria Sazanovich. As part of the exhibition Ruins of Belarus / Gallery UQ-BAR-A-BA. Berlin, DE
Paper flowers making "Mourning Morning" by Rozalina Busel. / Gallery : POP-UP, Copenhagen Photo Festival. Copenhagen. DK


2019 – Family archive. by Lesia Pcholka / KX Space. Brest, BY

LECTURES


2025
– Lecture: Narratives of Memory, Lesia Pcholka. PANDAwomen 2025 Festival. Berlin, Germany
RIMA Fest "As long as we remember, we resist. How Memory Defies Oppression". Bard College, NY

2024
– VEHA Archive, Curator talk. Lesia Pcholka, Vera Zalutskaya / Copenhagen Photo Festival. DK
– Discussion : Post-Soviet Archives As a Tool for Decolonisation. Case Study of the VEHA Archive. CPH:DOX. Participants: Katrine Stevnhøj, Vera Zalutskaya, Volha Samusevich. Copenhagen. Danmark

2022 
– How Archives Can Challenge Power with Safe Havens Freedom Talks. Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT)

2019
– Artist-talk with participants of the VEHA group. Participants: Lesia Pcholka, Olga Gritcuk. FAF Gallery. Fundacja Archeologia Fotografii. Warsaw, PL

– Discussion : Photo archive as a tool of memory culture. Participants: Alexander Dalhouski, Alexey Bratochkin, Lidiya Mikheeva, Andrey Mastyka, Olga Romanova. Space Ulej. Minsk, Belarus
2018
– Presentation of the VEHA book "Najlepšy bok". Participants: Lesia Pcholka, Volga Labacheuskaya, Alexander Stepanov, Lyavon Morozov / Space PUNKT. Minsk, BY
– The Corps says: a series of non-boring lectures. Lesia Pcholka / Space Korpus. Minsk, BY
2017
– Presentation of the VEHA archive. Month of Photography in Minsk. Participants: Anna Bundeleva, Lesia Pcholka, Vadzim Urublieŭski / Gallery Canteen XYZ. Minsk, BY