Ode to Teachers

History as Intimate, Overwhelming, Ambiguous, Unclassifiable, Borderline and Borderless Experiences

lithuanian edition here

What do we lose when, guided only by reason, we push intuition and certain forms of knowledge to the margins – when we deny them the status of truth? Why have some ways of knowing been historically valued, whilst others forcibly erased or buried beneath the dust of history?

Weaving together artistic research and practice, personal experiences and a dense web of references, artist and writer Goda Palekaitė recounts an encounter with knowledge unveiled through cosmological thinking, memory, transgression, intimacy and dreams. Written as a dialogue with those whom she calls her teachers, this experimental text brings forth the voices of myriad artists, writers and thinkers across cultures and centuries – including Venetian courtesans, Christian mystics in ecstasy and people displaced by colonialism and wars – those who have been excluded from mainstream historical narratives.  

Palekaitė invites us to see the world through a lens of holism and complexity, and to resist normative categorisations; to reconsider our relationship with knowledge, to refine our questions and to fine-tune our senses. The Ode’s teachers share liminal and transgressive experiences, directing the reader’s gaze towards the importance of personal history and memory. From within their private bedrooms, the teachers dwell on embodiment and intimacy, listening closely to their dreams and forging connections between their inner worlds and the wider world beyond.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Goda Palekaitė is a writer, artist and researcher whose work brings together contemporary art, performance, literature and anthropology. Her interdisciplinary practice spans publications, exhibitions, performances and curated programmes. Over the past decade, her projects have explored the politics of historical narratives, the potential of dreams and fiction, and alternative ways of knowing. She is interested in personal, marginalised and liminal narratives; lives that resist comprehension and classification; and knowledge that emerges through intimacy, dreams and at the margins.

Palekaitė has held solo exhibitions in Lithuania, Belgium, Sweden and Italy. Her performances, video works and installations have been presented at art institutions across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2025, she defended her doctoral dissertation at Hasselt University and PXL-MAD School of Arts in Belgium, and in 2026, she was a visiting postdoctoral researcher at Yale University. She is the author of four books, as well as numerous experimental texts and essays. Her collection of fictional biographies, Schizmatics, was published by LAPAS in 2020.

COLOPHON

Design Jonas Vaikšnoras, Julija Česnulaitytė
Layout Valdas Bautrėnas
Copy editing Kat Black
Project manager Jonė Juchnevičiūtė
Publishing house editor Ūla Ambrasaitė 

ISBN 978-609-496-049-9
ISBN 978-609-496-048-2 (LT edition)

Book photos by Tautvydas Stukas.

© Goda Palekaitė, 2026
© Jonas Vaikšnoras, design, 2026 
© LAPAS, www.lapasbooks.com, 2026

Published by LAPAS, October 2026

FUNDED BY