Stella Kechagioglou
Keywords: Care, Community, Safespace
In the institution in which everyone has a space, where is the place for the common?
Gallery Zero is the first self-organized common space within the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK). Developed in response to the absence of a shared space within the academy, the project explores how underused spaces, materials, and social relations can be activated through collective participation. Rather than proposing a finished design, Gallery Zero functions as an evolving framework shaped by its users. Through a series of collective acts inspired by “susu”, the spontaneous exchange that emerges around a shared activity, the project explores how trust, care, and collective memory can transform an anonymous space into a common place. Existing materials, waste streams, and the diverse knowledge of students, staff, technicians, and other members of the academy become resources for the continuous development of the space. In doing so, Gallery Zero questions traditional notions of authorship and proposes a model of spatial production based on care, collaboration, and shared responsibility. Conceived as a project in progress, Gallery Zero is less a designed object than an invitation: a platform through which a community can collectively imagine, construct, and sustain its own common place.
st.ll.
A Self-Organizing System
This diagram visualizes Gallery0 as a self-organizing ecosystem sustained through interconnected systems of collective practice. Rather than operating through a centralized hierarchy, the gallery emerges from the continuous interaction of four interdependent frameworks: a rental system, a financial system, a self-informative system, and a social system. Together, these structures support participation, resource sharing, communication, and collective care, demonstrating how the space is continuously produced and maintained through shared responsibility.
st.ll. - Doigital Drawing, Procreate, 2026
Through participation, care, knowledge sharing, and mutual support, the social system encourages diverse forms of engagement while fostering inclusion, reciprocity, and collective responsibility.
st.ll. - Doigital Drawing, Procreate, 2026
This diagram illustrates Gallery0's shared rental model, where spaces, tools, and resources are accessed through a community-based exchange system rather than conventional commercial transactions.
st.ll. - Doigital Drawing, Procreate, 2026
An internal exchange system where contributions generate value through a shared community currency rather than conventional money.
st.ll. - Doigital Drawing, Procreate, 2026
Digital Drawing, Procreate, 2025
Invisible Labour explores the often-unseen work that sustains everyday life (care, emotional support, domestic responsibilities, and the countless tasks that remain unnoticed despite being essential). Created in Procreate, the digital drawing reflects on how labour can exist beyond the visible or measurable, questioning whose work is acknowledged and whose remains hidden. Through its composition and visual language, the artwork invites viewers to consider the value of overlooked contributions and the social structures that render them invisible. It serves as both a reflection on contemporary life and a recognition of the quiet efforts that shape our personal and collective experiences.
Digital Drawing, Procreate, 2026
This map invites viewers to locate Gallery0 within the KABK environment. Rather than simply indicating its physical position, it reveals how the gallery exists within the everyday rhythms of the academy, present yet often overlooked.
Digital Drawing, Procreate, 2026
This map visualizes the KABK community as a network of people, spaces, and relationships connected through learning, collaboration, and shared experiences. Rather than representing the academy as a fixed institution, it highlights the interactions, exchanges, and informal connections that shape everyday life within the community. The work invites viewers to consider how knowledge, care, and participation circulate across the diverse individuals and spaces that collectively constitute KABK.
