- Residency period: December 2025
At Nida Art Colony in December Goda Paleikaitė worked on a new project, which draws inspiration from a historical period reminiscent of today. It is the 3rd-5th century AD, when the Roman Empire begins to crumble, Christianity, which had been suppressed until then, takes root in Europe, and a new era, the Middle Ages, begins. The old power structures collapse, while new ones are still taking shape. The social reality of the time resembles an apocalyptic scenario: the Roman religion, culture, law, urbanism, everyday life, and ideals are overthrown and assimilated and gradually falling apart. Historically, this period is closely associated with the catacombs – underground burial places and systems of corridors where early Christians not only buried their deceased but also hid from persecutions and created their identity. The ideals that emerged from there later became the basis of the culture that have been shaping Europe until today. The most famous catacombs are in Rome, thus, Goda’s research is conducted in collaboration with two Italian residences: Villa Massimo (Villa Serpentara) and IUNO.
This project does not stick to the historical realm. Bringing together fieldwork, creative writing, video, Latin language and AI, the artist speculates: what if those catacombs had given birth not to the patriarchal, godfearing Christian dogma, but to a progressive, feminist worldview based on the principles of freedom and equality? And how can we understand today’s political apocalypse through this historical allegory: if the decaying contemporary Western world-order can be compared to the ancient Romans – what will emerge from the catacombs?
Goda Palekaitė is a Brussel-based Lithuanian artist, writer and researcher working at the intersection of contemporary art, performance, artistic research, literature, and anthropology. Her practice evolves around projects and programmes exploring the politics of historical narratives, the agency of dreams and fiction, and the alternative discourses of knowledge. Goda’s solo shows were opened at Beursschouwburg and Centre Tour à Plomb in Brussels, Västerås Art Museum, Kunsthal Gent, Editorial in Vilnius, and Konstepidemin in Gothenburg. In the last years, her performances and installations have been presented at Whitechapel Gallery in London, BOZAR and Kanal–Centre Pompidou in Brussels, National Gallery of Arts and Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius, West in The Hague, Tranzit Bratislava, The Swamp Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura in Venice, among others. She is an author of three books as well as various essays and experimental texts. Goda defended her doctoral thesis in 2025 at Hasselt University.
The residency was part of the project “Songs of Serpents – Ecopoetic Zones”
Partners: JUNGE AKADEMIE
The project is funded by and developed with Schering Stiftung (main partner), the Stiftung Stark für Gegenwartskunst and the Landschaftsverband Stade.
Website: www.palekaite.space
Instagram: www.instagram.com/goda__palekaite/
