Cemra (Darya Siamchuk, b. 1990, Grodno, Belarus) is a visual artist based in Warsaw. Her artist name means “darkness” in Belarusian. She works across sculptural painting, object, installation and performance. From plaster bandages, resin, oil and varnish she builds surfaces that behave like skin: layered, wounded, bandaged.
Since being forced to leave Belarus in 2022, she has focused on political violence, exile and collective memory. Recent solo exhibitions include ZIAMLIAČKA at Kunsthaus Graz (2026), ABSENCE at KUBE Gallery, Genk (2026) and FRAGILE at MAD Gallery, Poznań (2025). She was a finalist for the KAF Young Art Prize (2026) and artist-in-residence in Graz (2025). She is represented by KUBE Gallery.
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REPRESENTATION
KUBE Gallery, Genk, Belgium
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
ABSENCE
KUBE Gallery, Genk, Belgium, 2026
ZIAMLIAČKA
Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria, 2026
FRAGILE
MAD Gallery, Poznań, Poland, 2025
LAZARET
Museum of Free Belarus, Warsaw, Poland / Beseder Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic, 2023
ACHING
A&V Art Gallery, Minsk, Belarus, 2021
CEMRA
Art-Belarus Gallery, Minsk, Belarus, 2020
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
KAF Young Art Prize 2026 — Finalists’ Exhibition
[VENUE], Wrocław, Poland, 2026–2027
Gold of Belarus
Barak Kultury, Poznań, Poland, 2025
Where am I
Montenegro European Art Community Gallery, Budva, Montenegro, 2023
Who Owns the Land (on conflict, diaspora & coloniality)
THE PINNA Gallery, online, London, 2023
The Autumn Salon
National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus, 2021
Art-Minsk International Festival
National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus, 2020
AWARDS
2026 — Finalist, KAF Young Art Prize
Krupa Art Foundation, Wrocław, Poland
2019 — Winner, Autumn Salon
National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus
2019 — Innovation Prize, Triennial of Young Artists
National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus
GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2025 — Artist-in-Residence
Kulturvermittlung Steiermark / City of Graz, Austria
2024 — “Adradzhenne” National Revival Scholarship
Representation for National Revival of Belarus
2023 — ArtPower Belarus Grant
Belarusian Council for Culture and Danish Cultural Institute, with European Union support
2020 — Dukley European Art Community Residency
Budva, Montenegro
SELECTED SCREENINGS & PRESENTATIONS
2026 — BELARUSIAN - video performance
ISPA 2026 New York Congress, International Society for the Performing Arts, New York, USA
EDUCATION
2013–2017 — Studies in Cultural & Social Management
Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, Minsk, Belarus
2008–2011 — Diploma in Design
Gomel State Art College, Gomel, Belarus
SELECTED PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2026 — “Cemra: When the Surface Becomes a Body and Memory Becomes Matter,”
VEIN Magazine [LINK]
2026 — “Soil of Home Will Always Cradle You and Hold You”: Artist Cemra on Forms of Memory,
REFORM.news [LINK]
2024 — “Trip to Lazaret: Symbolizing Wounds,”
New Eastern Europe [LINK]
Selected coverage:
Chrysalis Mag [LINK]
Magazyn Szum [LINK]