Goda Palekaitė is an artist and researcher working in the intersection of contemporary art, performance, artistic research, literature, and anthropology. Her practice evolves around projects exploring the politics of historical narratives, the agency of dreams and imagination, and social conditions of creativity. Through elements of fiction and narrative speculation, she proposes an intimate relationship with history and other forms of knowledge.

Goda’s recent solo shows were opened at Beursschouwburg in Brussels (Eye Dust 2023), Västerås Art Museum (Serpentine Spine 2023), Kunsthal Gent in Ghent / Editorial in Vilnius (The Strongest Muscle in the Human Body is the Tongue 2021), Centre Tour à Plomb in Brussels (Architecture of Heaven 2020), Konstepidemin in Gothenburg (Liminal Minds 2019), and RawArt Gallery in Tel Aviv (Legal Implications of a Dream 2018). In the last years, her performances and installations have been presented at Whitechapel Gallery in London, BOZAR Brussels, Vartai Gallery in Vilnius, Tranzit Bratislava, Swamp pavilion in The Biennale Architettura 2018 in Venice, Georg Kargl gallery in Vienna, Vilnius Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius international theatre festival Sirenos, Kanal–Centre Pompidou in Brussels, The Institute of Things to Come in Turin, among others. In 2020 she published her first book of fiction Schismatics (Lapas books). In 2019 Palekaitė received The Golden Stage Cross and the Young Artist’s Prize from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture. Palekaitė holds a BFA in fine arts (Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts), MA in social and cultural anthropology (University of Vienna), Post-Master in artistic research (A.pass, Brussels) and currently is a Ph.D. candidate at Hasselt University and PXL-MAD School of Arts. Goda is based in Brussels.

PRESS: REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS

Ode to a False Awakening interview by Charlotte Boddaert  & Wolfram Vandenbergen in Glean Art Magazine (ENG)

Ja ako mikrób, prach, kamene, ktoré vibrujú review by Damas Gruska in Flash Art (SK)

Lithuanian Visual Arts: Goda Palekaitė video interview by Virginija Januškevičiūtė for Lithuanian Culture Institute (ENG)

The Strongest Muscle in the Human Body is the Tongue by Goda Palekaitė at Editorial by Echo Gone Wrong (ENG)

Without Reduction radio interview by Virginija Januškevičiūtė for The Happy Hypocrite (ENG)

On the Importance of Conspiracy Theories, Schismatics and L’Écriture Feminine. In Conversation with Goda Palekaitė interview by Valentinas Klimašauskas (ENG)

Apie sąmokslo teorijų svarbą, schizmatikus ir l’ecriture feminine su Goda Palekaite interview by Valentinas Klimašauskas (LT)

DAE Lecture Series - Goda Palekaitė online lecture at Design Academy Eindhoven (ENG)

Goda Palekaitė: kalbėti balsais tų, kurie prieš šimtus metų mąstė kaip aš, yra originalumo kulto nuvainikavimas interview by Monika Bertašiūtė (LT)

Homo cultus. Istoriko teritorija. Fikcijos ir istorijos sampynose gimstantys pasakojimai conversation with Aurimas Švedas (LT)

Beyond the beach of doom: what made Lithuania the world champions of art? review by Adrian Searle in The Guardian (ENG)

Performative Intersection of Facts and Fiction. An Interview with Goda Palekaitė interview by Ieva Baublytė (ENG)

Godos Palekaitės paroda „Ribiniai protai” Gioteburgo „Konstepidemin” galerijoje review by Živilė Etevičiūtė (LT)

Goda Palekaitė: „Anarchizmas – tai etinė laikysena“ interview by Kotryna Markevičiūtė (LT)

JCDecaux prize 2018: Dignity at Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius by Monika Kalinauskaitė and Adomas Narkevičius (ENG)

„Genijų“ krašte pokyčiai vyksta lėčiau interview by Daiva Šabasevičienė (LT)

A.pass’ Body Virtual Institution by Lilia Mestre (ENG)

Sprendimus padiktavo kontekstai interview by Nomeda Šatkauskienė (LT)

Tikresnis už gyvenimą. Teatras review by Ingrida Ragelskienė (LT)

„Dumblo“ erdvė: gyvuliukų gyvenimas review by Dalia Jakaitė (LT)

Goda Palekaitė: „Europiečiai“ aptaria tragediją, gresiančią šiuolaikinei Europai interview by Rūta Jakimauskienė (LT)

Gera pradžia, paženklinta šalčiu review by Milda Brukštutė (LT)

Kas mums tie pabėgėliai? review by Ramunė Balevičiūtė (LT)

Sympathie für den Bösen review by Kiku (DE)

Išbandymas O'Neillu:kaip meilę paversti geismu review by Nomeda Šatkauskienė (LT)

Paskui Nepažįstamą review by Andrius Jevsejevas (LT)

CONTACT

Selected works:

2023 Solo exhibition Eye Dust: An Adaptation of a Novel to Come at Beursschouwburg with new and recent films and installations, curated by Sofia Dati, Brussels (BE)

2023 Duo exhibition with Marija Puipaitė Anatomy of the Fetish at Vartai Gallery: new and recent installations, Vilnius (LT)

2023 Solo exhibition Serpentine Spine at Västerås Art Museum: presenting new sculptures, texts and the film Swallower of Shades (in collaboration with Graham Kelly), Västerås (SWE)

2023 Installation War Machines Based on the Dreams of the Enemies in a group show In the beginning was the deed! at Kaunas Artists House, in collaboration with Adomas Palekas, curated by Edgaras Gerasimovičius and Vaida Stepanovaitė (LT)

2023 Co-curating Conditions of Spectatorship, an interdisciplinary symposium on artistic research at RITCS School of Arts, Brussels (BE)

2023 Performative readings in the Jonas Mekas: 100 Years of Cinema, Arts, and Politics program at Arsenal Kino, curated by Christoph Gnädig, Christian Hiller and Anne König, Berlin (DE)

2023 Curating the AUTOPROBLEMA issue of Artnews.lt, Lithuanian contemporary art magazine (LT)

2022 Publication If I Stay with You, I Am Rooted, but I Flow: On Discursive Love Between a Vampire and a Saint in the peer-reviewed online scholarly journal Passage #2 Mystical Exercises

2022 Anthropomorphic Trouble in a group exhibition I as it, or stones that vibrate at Tranzit, curated by Anna Santomauro & Laura Clarke, Bratislava (SK)

2022 Performance Vampire Bedroom Stories presented in Lectures on the Weather program at Tranzit, curated by Anna Smolak, Bucharest (RO)

2022 Co-curating the postgraduate summer program Scoring Intimacy with Discursive Others at a.pass, in collaboration with Lilia Mestre, Brussels (BE)

2022 Film Anthropomorphic Trouble in a group exhibition Takūs kūnai: Žmonės ir nežmonės at Nemuno 7, curated by Valentinas Klimašauskas, Kaunas (LT)

2022 Publication 5 DREAMS WITH IMPLICATIONS: On Private Methodologies of Artistic Research in the online peer-reviewed journal for cross-cultural close reading Collateral #34

2021 Performance, publication and video work Anthropomorphic Trouble presented at Whitechapel Gallery, in collaboration with Adrijana Gvozenović, London (UK)

2021 Residency at Delfina Foundation, in preparation for the project Anthropomorphic Trouble, London (UK)

2021 Film I Write While Disappearing in a group exhibition An Incomplete & Unreliable Guide to Social Media War Room at Georg Kargl Fine Arts, curated by Valentinas Klimašauskas, Vienna (AT)

2021 Research project Anthropomorphic Trouble, fieldwork conducted in London and Dorset, curated by Arts Catalyst, in collaboration with Adrijana Gvozenović (UK)

2021 Research project and residency at Art Lab Gnesta and Västerås Konstmuseum, in preparation for a solo exhibition at Västerås Konstmuseum (SWE)

2021 Solo exhibition The Strongest Muscle in The Human Body is The Tongue at Editorial Project Space, Vilnius (March-April) and Kunsthal Gent, Ghent (May-June), curated by The Institute of Things to Come (LT/BE).

2020 Research project Tehran of Trees, in collaboration with Sina Seifee, as part of the HERMAP project, curated by BOZAR, Brussels (BE) and Goethe Institute, Tehran (IR)

2020 Solo exhibition Architecture of Heaven at Centre Tour à Plomb, in collaboration with SB34-The Pool, curated by Pauline Hatzigeorigiou, Brussels (BE)

2020 Book Schismatics - artist’s book and fictional biographies of 11 historical characters, published by LAPAS books (LT/ENG)

2020-present Artistic Ph.D. researcher at Hasselt University and PXL-MAD School of Arts (BE)

2020 Exhibition of performances Somnambulism at the Vilnius International Theatre Festival Sirenos, Vilnius (LT)

2020 Associated researcher and commission for a new performance at The Institute of Things to Come, curated by Valerio Del Baglivo, Turin/Ghent (IT/BE)

2020 Online publication of Dictionary of Apocalypse, a virtual lexicon, in collaboration with Sina Seifee

2020 Installation Liminal Minds in a group show Living Ornament at Atletika gallery, curated by Yates Norton, Vilnius (LT)

2019 Performance Digestive System of Humanity, in collaboration with Jonas Palekas, presented at Editorial, Vilnius (LT) and Centre Tour à Plomb, Brussels (2020, BE)

2019 Young Artist’s Prize from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture for the last three years interdisciplinary contributions to the international art scene

2019 Solo exhibition Liminal Minds as part of the GIBCA Extended (Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art) at Konstepidemin gallery, in the context of Nordic Match residency program, in collaboration with Annika Lundgren, Gothenburg (SWE)

2019 Performance How to Infuriate a Historian at Hacktiris, as part of a.pass’ End-Communications event Virtual Body Institution, Brussels (BE)

2019 The Golden Stage Cross (highest Lithuanian theatre award) for Best Scenography for The Door and The Perfect Match (LT)

2019 Film Elinora’s Dream presented at Kino Pavasaris (Vilnius International Film Festival) (LT)

2019 Duo exhibition Legal Implications of a Dream: Elinora’s Dream at Art Cube Artists’ Studios, in collaboration with Elinora Schwartz, curated by Leah Abir, Jerusalem (IL)

2019 Performance and installation Vodka Salt at the Kanal Centre Pompidou, in Performatik (The Brussels biennale of performance art), in the context of a.pass’ Unsettled study, curated by Vladimir Miller, Brussels (BE)

2018 Solo exhibition Legal Implications of a Dream at RawArt Gallery, curated by Leah Abir, Tel Aviv (IL)

2018 Performance and installation Advertising Anarchism (Reklamuojant anarchizmą) in a group exhibition JCDecaux Prize: Dignity, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (LT)

2018 Scenography and costumes for The Perfect Match by E. Ionesco, director Paulius Ignatavičius, Šiauliai Drama Theatre (LT)

2018 Writing, directing and scenography for the performance Bakunin. The show premiered in the Venice Biennale Architettura 2018, Laboratorio Artistico Pietra in Turin and Sirenos International Theatre Festival in Vilnius (IT/LT)

2018 Scenography and costumes for The Door (Durys), written and directed by Jo Stromgren, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Vilnius (LT)

2018 Performance Put Words In My Mouth at ZSenne Art Laboratory, in the context of a.pass, curated by Pierre Rubio, Brussels (BE)

2018 Scenography for M. Crimp's In the Republic of Happiness (Laimės Respublikoje), director Mantas Jančiauskas, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Vilnius (LT)

2018/19 Artistic research at a.pass (advanced performance and scenography studies) research institute in Brussels (BE)

2018 Establishment of the not-for-profit company Schizma. This Vilnius-based initiative exists for the development of international artistic research and performing arts projects in Vilnius and abroad (LT)

2017 Directing (in collaboration with Aaron Kahn), scenography and costumes for M. I. Fornes’ Mud (Dumblas), a site-specific theatre performance in an abandoned school, Šiauliai Drama Theatre (LT)

2017 Performance and installation Khazar Mythology (in collaboration with A. Kahn and M. Lipšic) in a group exhibition The Future is Certain,It’s the Past which is Unpredictable, curated by Monika Lipšic, Calvert 22 Foundation, London (UK)

2017 Performance and installation based on G. Palekaitė’s play Conversation on the Roof of Chungking Mansions in a techno-theatrical reading, Autarkia, Vilnius (LT)

2017 Publication of the theatre play Conversation on the Roof of Chungking Mansions based on the audio-visual and ethnographic research in Hong Kong, published in Alicja's Khatchikian book Father Than I Thought by the Quiet Propaganda studio, Turin (IT)

2017 Nomination 'Best Scenography' for The Golden Stage Cross (highest Lithuanian theatre award) for Europeans (Europiečiai) (LT)

2017 Scenography for P. Highsmith‘s The Talented Mr.Ripley, director Thomas Birkmeir, The Austrian National Youth Theatre (Theater der Jugend), Vienna (AT)

2016 Scenography and costumes for Europeans (Europiečiai) based on Aeschylus' The Suppliants and other texts, director Paulius Ignatavičius, Vilniaus Mažasis Teatras (LT) 

2016 Scenography for W. Herrndorf‘s Tschick, director Thomas Birkmeir, The Austrian National Youth Theatre (Theater der Jugend), Vienna (AT)

2015 Monography Conditions of Creativity: Ethnographic research among young
contemporary artists in Vilnius, published by Akademikerverlag, Germany (DE)

2015 Scenography and costumes for Eugene O’Neill‘s Desire Under The Elms (Meilė po guobomis), director Paulius Ignatavičius, Šiauliai Drama Theatre (LT)

2015 Installation based on H. Müller's Hamletmachine exhibited in the international Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Prague (CZ)

2014 Publication The Non-Existent That Never Was: The Inconsistency of the Contemporary San-Space in Namibia, academic journal Lithuanian Ethnology 14[23] (LT)

2010 Performance in the group exhibition Waiting Spaces curated by the University of Applied Arts, Vienna (AT)

2010 Nomination 'Best Scenography and Costumes' for The Golden Stage Cross (highest Lithuanian theatre award) for The Fight (Kova) (LT)

2009 Scenography and costumes for The Fight (Kova) based on F. Kafka’s novels, director Paulius Ignatavičius, Šiauliai Drama Theater (LT)

Education: 2011 Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts, BFA in Scenography | 2015 University of Vienna, Cultural and Social Anthropology, international CREOLE program, MA degree | 2019 A.pass Brussels, Post-Master Degree in Artistic Research 

Born in 1987 in Vilnius