What happens when the fall of mankind is not the end, but a beginning?

In Lapsarian 3.0, artist and researcher Goda Palekaitė invites visitors to reflect on moments of collapse and on what might emerge in their aftermath.

The exhibition takes its starting point from the idea of the “lapsarian”, a term that refers to the fall of humanity from paradise. Rather than treating this story as a moral lesson or a definitive rupture, Palekaitė approaches the fall as a threshold: a moment of transition in which established certainties dissolve and new ways of thinking become possible.

In Lapsarian 3.0, installations, sculptures, video, sound, text and works developed with artificial intelligence come together in a layered scenography. Past, present and possible futures intertwine, forming a hybrid universe in which history is not fixed, but continuously rewritten. Ancient narratives resonate with contemporary questions around technology, power, belief, ecology and ways of living together.

Lapsarian 3.0 (2026), a new work developed specifically for Kunsthal Extra City, forms the heart of the exhibition. Taking the Roman catacombs as its guiding metaphor — underground spaces where new forms of community emerged in times of crisis — Palekaitė reflects on this historical moment as an allegory for the present. Through filmed material and AI-generated elements, the work unfolds as a speculative visual landscape in which different temporalities coexist.

Alongside this new commission, the exhibition presents a selection of works created by Palekaitė over the past five years. Rather than offering a chronological overview, these works form a constellation of ideas around mysticism, anarchism, feminist historiography and speculative forms of knowledge. They give space to marginalised voices, forgotten stories and alternative ways of knowing — not as nostalgia, but as sources of imagination and hope.

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This exhibition is made possible with the support of:
Akademie der Künste in Berlin, Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo, IUNO, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra