Exhibition DATAS: The Data and the Sovereign in Prague
Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
11 June – 30 August 2026
Participating artists: aaajiao, Tekla Aslanishvili, Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán, Mark Cinkevich, Critical Tech Group (Nazar Golianych and Nastia Kolodka), Nina Davies, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Anna Engelhardt, eeefff, fantastic little splash (Lera Malchenko and Oleksandr Hants), Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė, Flaka Haliti, Tamara Kametani, Áron Lődi, Artur Magrot, Martyna Marciniak, Leon Sahiti, Rudolf Samohejl, Sfera (Sylvia Rybak, Marco Winter and Ula Sowa Przybylska), Jonas Staal, Jelena Visković
Curator: Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás
The final major exhibition of the international art and research program DATAS: Data and Sovereign, in which the Project Atol is participating as one of the partners, will open on 11 June 11 2026 at the Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague.
Who controls our data, personal sovereignty, and political freedom? Answers are offered by DATAS: The Data and the Sovereign, an exhibition in which Czech and international artists explore in their works how computing technologies, automation, and digital infrastructures undermine personal and state sovereignty. The beasts that threaten us today are unlikely to be roaring lions; rather, they are algorithmic systems, data infrastructures, and AI-driven forms of governance that operate beyond effective democratic oversight.
This group exhibition confronts one of the defining struggles of the coming decades that is profoundly shaping human agency: the battle for sovereignty in an age when data and computation increasingly exceed legal and political control. As algorithmic systems influence public discourse, automate and manipulate decision-making, and shape the conduct of war, the foundations of democracy are being rewritten in code. Bringing together voices in art, philosophy, and technology, the exhibition examines how personal and national self-determination might persist amid the forces of surveillance capitalism and authoritarianism.
The featured works range from interactive installations to narrative films and software art. They move beyond critique to model ethical alternatives to extractive digital regimes. The exhibition unfolds across three constellations. “Spectres of the Leviathan” addresses the datafied sovereign, examining algocracy, cybersecurity, and automated governance. “Islands of Insubordination” focuses on infrastructures such as energy networks, submarine cables, and data centres, revealing sovereignty as a form of logistical and computational power with ecological consequences. “Songs of Refusal” explores the fragility of personal sovereignty under conditions of profiling, prediction, and surveillance, where images become operative within systems of control.
– Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás, curator
For more information about the exhibition and the accompanying program: https://www.galerierudolfinum.cz/en/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibition/datas-the-data-and-the-sovereign/
Colophon
Co-funded by the European Union as part of the Creative Europe framework.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
DATAS (2025-26) is an assembly convened to amplify unheard voices from Central and Eastern Europe, and Southern Caucasus, reflecting on the relationship between the self, technology, and power. Produced in partnership between Goethe-Institut (Germany), Izolyatsia (Ukraine), MeetFactory (Czech Republic), Projekt Atol (Slovenia) and Tallinn Art Hall (Estonia).
