Bringing its title from Vangjush Vellahu’s series of drawings grouped and presented in its own space inside the gallery, the exhibition “My favourite object” is imagined as a collection of works realised in one of the most classical, most immediate and most primary mediums for an artist: paper. Seeing paper as an artist’s favourite object, the exhibition explores a range of different media: pencil drawing, serigraphy/silk-screen prints, watercolour, acrylic and pastel. However, they all share the same basic element, the first thing an artist takes into his/her hand when an idea is born, whether it is to write down some thoughts or to start sketching.

HESTIA Art Residency & Exhibitions Bureau is an independent space devoted to the exchange of knowledge, experience and thought in the field of visual arts.
They present and develop projects, and support research about contemporary issues and artistic practices with a focus on – but not exclu-sively- what is referred to as the Global South.
Issues questioning the established canons and op-posing the institutional paradigm are also of great importance to our field of interest.
They encourage a strong dialogue between Eastern Europe and Latin America. Their similar political past between the 60s and 80s resulted in the avant-garde scenes sharing common practices. Their goal is to see if that common ground still exists in the contemporary (art) world. They would like to extend this dialogue to the Middle Eastern region, as we feel these three regions can be of interest to each other and by acquiring a deep understanding of their (hi)stories they can be very valuable for the development of new artistic movements.
Hestia is located in the centre of Belgrade, in a private apartment. The name comes from Hestia (gr. /ˈhɛstiə/), the Greek Goddess of hearth, domesticity and architecture; having a fireplace in the space represents this on a symbolic level and the idea is further supported by our residency pro-gramme. The space also includes a library accessible to all visitors.
In their exhibition space they present the work of emerging and established artists, whose research and work stems mainly from the fields of ethnography, anthropology, social sciences and history. Their extensive travels and experiences across different cultures give way for a vision on multiple worlds. Their programme also includes other areas such as architecture, design, and film in the form of lectures, workshops, film screenings, etc…Their mission is to create and put forward ways of thinking related to contemporary visual culture and issues related to the less canonic references and away from the Western ideal.