Pavle Mijuca’s recent practice unfolds around the entanglements between space, power, and perception, tracing the subtle yet pervasive influence of what he terms “the Investor’s Gaze.” This gaze, both speculative and constructive, reveals how developers imagine, instrumentalize, and aestheticize the built environment in their pursuit of shaping urban futures.

Through his ongoing research, Mijuca identifies the idiosyncrasies, or “quirks,” that animate these agents of development: the gestures, preferences, and ideological undercurrents that quietly inform entire cityscapes. These peculiarities often materialize as distinct aesthetic codes or “development philosophies,” each bound to to its own set of political and cultural conditions.

A recurring motif within this body of work is the renewed obsession with the “historical”: a nostalgic return to traditional architectures that serves as both design language and legitimizing myth. By mapping these appropriations of history, Mijuca exposes how nostalgia becomes an instrument of power within the production of contemporary space.

During this artist talk, he will weave together fragments from his previous works with new research conducted during his residency at aqb in Budapest, assembling a layered reflection on how spaces are not only built, but also fantasmized.

Pavle Mijuca (1999, Belgrade) is an artist whose work explores the power dynamics embedded in urban planning and architecture. Through research-based, role-driven performances, he inhabits personas such as tour guides, architects, and real estate developers to expose the narratives that shape contemporary urban development. Merging performance with object-making, he produces construction hoardings and promotional displays that blur the line between the plausible and the absurd, employing satire and confabulation to unravel the contradictions that structure the built environment.

He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and a Master’s degree from the Studio for Immediate Spaces at the Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam. He is currently based in Amsterdam.

Pavle Mijuca's residency was organised through our exchange program with Slobodne Veze / Motel Trogir Project.