Roadside objects
Belarus
2025
In Belarus where the everyday space is the only place for expression, heritage is a dynamic and discursive construction. Roadside objects is based on the book Belarusian Folk Crosses by ethnographer Mikhail Romanyuk. None of the roadside and crossroad protective crosses mentioned were found by the artist. Often replaced with new ones made of metal and decorated by local residents, their brightly coloured ribbons and flowers are more likely to be associated with LGBTQIA+ pride than with the patriarchal past. Although they have lost their original meaning, the crosses are not only maintained, but also reproduced through an uncoordinated, iterative, and vibrant social practice. As references to outdated monographs lead researchers away from the facts, Lesia Pčołka shows them as cut out of the landscape, as if suspended.
Portfolio
About the artist
Lesia Pčołka is a Belarusian visual artist, born in 1989. She currently lives and works between Berlin (Germany) and Bielsk Podlaski (Poland). She is interested in collective memory and how official historical narratives interact with undocumented stories from the pre-Soviet past and daily life. Her work reflects contemporary social issues and exposes layered stories in public and private awareness. Lesia Pčołka is the founder of the VEHA archive