1993 - Story Told By “J”
Sometimes we were passing exams and it was very difficult because on one day, I think it was July 1993, 3000 grenades fell on the city. Only in one day. And on the other side, I remember very special moments, beautiful moments. So with my classmates, we were together all day in a very beautiful building, the Art Academy. It was built during the Austrian Hungarian period. And we were not only listening to the lectures, but we were together all day singing, and getting food. Pretending that the bad things were not happening at that moment are not existing. Only we will live in that moment. So we were sharing food and what we had. Together, everybody brought something. Yeah, learning things about art, but also about life, and how to survive.
1996 - Story Told By “O”
Education during and after the war was very much related to donations, to be honest. So much of it was about the international support that you got. And we were so used to having NGOs or people from around the world, and Embassies and so on, in our schools that sometimes students thought, myself included, we all felt like circus monkeys. There’s another very important person joining who could give us money. So let's prepare a performance, or no, let's sing or let's do... And I think as we were children at that time, at one point, it was just - "ugh-again". I think that everybody was a little bit grateful, obviously extremely grateful. But as children, you can't understand that, I do understand all of that now. But at that time, I think that children, many of us, didn't really understand how important it was to present ourselves in the best way we could in order to get some donations. So that's why we felt like, just honestly, performing for the international community was so that they would feel for whatever we're going through. I think it was a very specific state of mind.
What I like and what I do very often in my spare time is I like to hang out with older people. I like to listen to their stories about what it was like before. I like to speak to these women who tell me about their lives when they were young. And I have the feeling that somebody has to listen to them. And when I do that, and when I talk to them about their lives it fulfills me really with satisfaction because it means so much to them. Sometimes they're wondering why I do this, you know the times we're talking about with you were not even born. But I like this tradition. I like their lives before and I like to listen about it and to talk about it and I see that it fills them with happiness that they have somebody to talk to about this.
During the war, art was also a way to overcome the fear and some kind of revelation showing that we are alive. And life is going on.
-J
Art Was Also A Way To Overcome The Fear
And this is the moment when I was in Sarajevo, at a concert: Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. And this photograph is from a part of the movie he made, Scream for me Sarajevo. I chose this photograph because it represents one very powerful moment in my life, and really the power of art. Because for those two hours, we all felt that Sarajevo is a place where there is no war.
My friend and colleague, another student of the Art Academy, was overwhelmed because his idol was Bruce Dickinson. And one day we were at Academy and he was running through halls and screaming, “Bruce Dickinson! Bruce Dickenson! Bruce Dickenson!” He came to Sarajevo under a tunnel we had in Sarajevo under the airport. And that was the only communication with the outside world. Food and people who were trying to come to Sarajevo were coming through that tunnel.
J’s Resiliency Artifact
Photo by Milomir Kovacevic
So that concert was an amazing, very special moment. Because all of my class, we went together. I'm not very fascinated with that kind of music, but I can listen. I love some of Bruce Dickinson's songs. But I appreciate his support and understanding the importance of that moment.
And to have a concert in Sarajevo under those conditions. I don't know how they secured electricity, how everything was organized. It was a miracle. Bruce Dickenson said in that movie that he had 1000s of concerts but this one was amazing. Because of the energy exchange between the public. He never felt that kind of energy.
-J
The multiethnic and multicultural aspect of Bosnia is a source of beauty and comparative advantage. Because the field with one kind of flower is boring. It's not so beautiful compared to the field with many different flowers. And, I'm trying to teach my students to cherish that, because we have Jews, we have Muslims, we have Catholics, and we also have Orthodox people in Sarajevo. That is super. That is the most important thing in Bosnia. That's why Sarajevo is named the European Jerusalem.