Founded in 2003 at the Museum of Little Homeland in Studziwody, the studio takes its name from the local dialect word żemerwa, meaning a group of cheerful, singing young people. Its mission is to record, study, and perform the folk traditions of Belarusians from Podlasie and Polesie, with a strong emphasis on passing them on to children and young people.
The group draws inspiration from field research in Podlasie and Polesie, as well as from the extensive phonographic archive of the Podlasie–Polesie Meetings in Tradition “Tam po majowuj rosi” (“There by the May Dew”), of which it is a co-organiser (the 22nd edition was held in 2025).
Żemerwa has presented the folklore of Belarusians from Podlasie many times in Poland and abroad, including in Belarus, Hungary, Greece, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and the Czech Republic. For its efforts to preserve traditional culture, the group has received a UNESCO diploma.
So far, Żemerwa has released 20 CDs featuring recordings by its members as well as other performers of traditional folklore from Podlasie and Belarusian Polesie. It also produces ethnographic documentary films, including Pryweli nas siudy pieśni Waszych bat’kuow (2021) and the feature-length documentary Oj maju ja tonki hołos (2022), about the singer Katarzyna Tichoniuk from Zbucz, both directed by Piotr Łozowik.
The group’s repertoire spans winter, spring, and summer ritual songs; family cycles such as weddings and baptisms; non-ritual songs; and traditional dances accompanied by its own band, which features accordion, three-row diatonic button accordion, violin, baraban drum, frame drum, bagpipes, and hurdy-gurdy.
