Interview with Culture of BiH

Interview with Culture of BiH, by Damir Hadzic, UNDP, MGD-F communications consultancy DH: ~ Good day to you Culture of BiH, thank you for finding the time interview with me, can you for the beginning of this interview tell us something about your self?

CofBiH: ~ Well it can be a bit difficult question cause I represent a country with one of the richest histories in world, it has always been a place where many cultures meet, stay unchanged, or mixing become a brand new culture unique and never seen before.

Bosnia & Herzegovina's cultural, natural and historical treasure is very diverse, and gives you an opportunity to see all historical ages, from ancient history until the newest events, all over the country. A main mark of Bosnian and Herzegovinian history is that it has always been the product of many nations that have made up Bosnia & Herzegovina. Even today, Bosnia & Herzegovina has three official nations (Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats), three official languages (Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian) and three official religions (Orthodoxy, Islam and Catholicism). These are the real riches of this country and it makes it one of the most interesting but the least known of tourist destinations.

DH: ~ Yes, but is that really so, a country “with one of the richest histories in world�, can you tell us bit specific about this richness?

CofBiH: ~ hmmm you are the one that are hard to believe, okay, firstly the people of this land are the real richness and you know some finds near Sarajevo prove that the territory of Bosnia & Herzegovina was populated even during the Stone Age. The leap from Neanderthal man in the middle Paleolithic, to the homo sapiens of the Late Paleolithic is signified by the first cave drawings of that period, some of which Page 1

are found in Badanj Cave near Stolac in Herzegovina. This rare sample is dated at 12.000 BC and there have been similar finds in only three other locations: Spain, France and Italy. Much of the fine pottery, arts and craft of this age are on display in the National (land) Museum in Sarajevo. The ancient settlement of Butmir, presently a suburb south of Sarajevo at the base of Igman Mountain, can alone testify to the craftsmanship achieved in that territory by Neolithic man. This unique Neolithic culture disappeared from Bosnia & Herzegovina without trace somewhere between the third and second millennia.

DH: ~ you have said that “Bosnian-Herzegovina history is that it has always been the product of many nations� how is this so?

CofBiH: ~ Yes, by all means. A great metamorphosis swept across Bosnia & Herzegovina in a movement that began with the arrival of nomadic tribes from the Black Sea steppes. With their arrival in the Balkans came a new Copper Age. This Aeneolithic period saw a parallel development of stone and metal. The use of metal became increasingly valued for weapon-making into the Bronze Age as well-armed tribes from west Pannonia expanded south and southeast towards the end of the second millennium. Wars became more frequent, and Bosnia became very popular for the sanctuary it provided with its deep, thick forests and rugged mountains, that stayed the same even today. In the first few centuries of the first millennium in Bosnia & Herzegovina came tribes collectively called Illyrians. They stayed on this area for a few centuries, and left many indications of way of their life. So, there are still a few archaeological sites that mark the Illyrian civilization in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Many of the Illyrian fortifications were expanded upon by the Romans and later by the Bosnian aristocracy and the Ottomans.

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New research, however, has uncovered a fascinating aspect of Illyria.

At Vranduk in central Bosnia, Blagaj near the Buna River in Herzegovina and the Cyclopean walls at Osanići near Stolac, finds have indicated that the culture of antiquity came to Bosnia & Herzegovina before the Romans, most likely in Hellenistic form.

DH: ~ Illyrians seem to be interesting people?

CofBiH: ~ yes indeed, you know much of the Illyrian culture will forever remain a mystery but one cannot deny the spiritual and cultural impact it has had, even almost two millennia after its disappearance. After several centuries of drastic social change in Europe, a mixture of cultures made their mark on present day Bosnia & Herzegovina. Basilicas from the late Roman period can be found, as their use was continued by the new settlements of Slavs. Remains can be found in Čapljina, Blagaj and Ljubuški in Herzegovina; Breza, Zenica, Travnik and Kiseljak in central Bosnia, and Banja Luka and Mrkonjić Grad in the northwest of the country.

DH: ~ Rome was dominant in BiH to?

CofBiH: ~ Well you know you can get that impression a first but there are some people that don’t think so for sure is that with the fall of the western empire the new era in Bosnia & Herzegovina was largely dominated by the Slavs. From the 6th century onwards sizeable Slav migrations came from the east. The first recorded evidence of Bosnia & Herzegovina under the Slavs dates from the 10th century.

Several centuries later a Byzantine writer stated that ”Bosnia is not a vassal state but it is independent, the people lead their own life and rule themselves.”

Graveyards have become the most accurate source for study of the culture of this time.

Archaeological digs in older necropolises have unearthed locally made jewellery and Page 3

weapons from the Slav period. A unique aspect of this time was the development of skilled work with stone. This art would later surface in what is seen today as a national trademark of Bosnia & Herzegovina – the stećak (plural is stećci ). These medieval tombstones were elaborately carved with drawings depicting aspects of Christian and pagan beliefs. Stećci date from 12th to the 16th centuries and can be found today in numerous locations all over Bosnia & Herzegovina. The tombstones are unique in world and they mark early Slavic heritage.

DH: ~ So medieval times in BiH are the most important?

CofBiH: ~ the spiritual culture that developed in medieval Bosnia was very similar to that of its Illyrian predecessors. There was a large degree of cultural resistance and fierce independence that resulted in a creative mould of Christianity. In a relatively inaccessible and isolated area emerged what was to be one of the most unique forms of Christianity in medieval Europe, the Bosnian Church. While still influenced by the great divide and spread of Orthodoxy and Catholicism the Bosnian Church, along with its own alphabet Bosančica (similar to both Glagolithic and Cyrillic) flourished in the medieval Bosnian state. In an era that saw Europe dominated by religious exclusiveness, Bosnia was able to maintain a high level of secularism in all spheres of life. The followers of this unique church have often been called Bogumils. Ban Kulin is one of the most important persons in whole history of Bosnia & Herzegovina. He was Bosnian king from 1180 to 1204, and most important act that he did was his charter that he signed with Ragusa (present-day Dubrovnik). That charter is a real proof of the Bosnian existence.

DH: ~ I have heard that this charter is not located in B&H, it is somewhere in Russia now?

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CofBiH: ~ Unfortunately like majority if B&H heritage it was lost in numerous robberies of my rich cultural heritage, but they are efforts to get this document back now days… You know it was made on 29th August 1189, and it is the oldest written document on Balkan Peninsula, and one of the oldest in Europe. Its big importance is that it was written in kind of Bosnian letter named Bosančica, and in this charter Ban Kulin represents himself as “Bosnian king”. At the age of only 15 King Stephen Tvrtko inherited a country where his youth made it impossible to prove his political and military authority. The first 14 years of his “rule” were troublesome times but with the help of the Hungarian king he was able to assert his leadership, and in 1367 Tvrtko expanded the kingdom, making Bosnia the most powerful state in the western Balkans at the end of the 14th century. By assisting the Serbian nobleman Lazar Hrebljanović to carve out territory in Serbia, Tvrtko was rewarded with large swathes of land in Hum (todays Herzegovina), Zeta (Montenegro), southern Dalmatia and the Sandžak of Novi Pazar (present-day Serbia).

DH: ~ There is a unique monuments from this times that I have heard that are the most important monuments in BiH, something like tombstones or something?

CofBiH: ~ No, you can not say that as a fact. Bosnia and Herzegovina is full of important monuments, from different era as well as different cultures.

Tombstones are the ones that are unique in the way that they are original; they have no transnational meaning like majority of monuments. Bosnia & Herzegovina is a living gallery of the stone art of the middle ages. Over 60,000 stećci (tombstones) are dotted throughout the landscape with the one of most beautiful necropolis at Radimlja near

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Herzegovinian town of Stolac. Whether or not the mystery of the stećci is ever solved, they remain a special national symbol of Bosnia & Herzegovina.

DH: ~ BiH was independent state in 14 century, so what happened with this state, the general information is that it becomes a state in 1992, I don’t understand now..?

CofBiH: ~ Yes that is also true, but you have to understand that in the summer of 1463 the Turkish arm, after years of penetration into Bosnian territory, captured the Bosnian banate and the region around Sarajevo. These lands would be under firm Turkish control for the next four centuries. Herzegovina also succeeded in repelling the Turks for a time after 1463. Herceg Stephen Vukčić held most of Herzegovina for the next two years, until another swarming invasion sent him into exile in Novi (today Herceg Novi). His son Vlatko attempted to enlist the help of the Hungarians and Venetians but internal strife with local noblemen and neighboring Ragusa enabled the Ottomans to take a strong hold by the 1470s, and in 1482 the last fortress in Herzegovina was overrun. Most of Bosnia & Herzegovina's present-day cities and towns were created during the Ottoman period. A focus on building towns and constructing roads and bridges to connect these towns brought the whole country, for the first, into an urbanized sphere. Never before had any central administration effectively embarked on a vision of a building a country. Islamic art and culture added a remarkable aspect to life in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

DH: ~ what was happening to other religions of that time?

CofBiH: ~ The Orthodox church, and the introduction for a new Jewish community enjoyed growth and prosperity within the empire, unlike the often brutal feudal

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systems seen else where in Europe at that time. One of the most priceless books in the National (Land) Museum of Bosnia & Herzegovina is the Hebrew codex Haggadah.

Several synagogues and temples were built. The Jews of Bosnia & Herzegovina, from an early stage after their arrival, played an important role in the cultural and religious life of the cities where they settled. Russia had declared war to the Ottoman Empire in 1877, and the earlier plans of the Austrians and Russians would soon become reality. By October 20, 1878 the total occupation of Bosnia & Herzegovina was complete. A new era under Austro-Hungarian rule began.

DH: ~ that was fast, Bosnia and Herzegovina must be a very important country when occupiers did not waste any time to take it to the hands again, but they say that this time was a progress time for majority of cities and inhabitants of BiH? CofBiH: ~ By all means this is in so many ways true. The AustroHungarians wasted no time in establishing their rule. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 redrew the map of Balkans, already established by Russian interest in the San Stefano Treaty earlier that year, and approved the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The next 40 years, half spent as an occupied province and the latter half as an annexed state, saw one of the most profound transformations of internal politics in Bosnia & Herzegovina's history. When the occupation army arrived in Bosnia & Herzegovina the struggle had already begun for national identity among the three groups: Orthodox (Serb), Catholic (Croat) and Islamic (Muslim).

DH: ~ even then that was happening? I was thinking it was a thing of a newer date?

CofBiH: ~ For sure is that national identity issues were strong in Europe of that time.

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The most visible changes under Austro-Hungarian occupation occurred in everyday life where more European styles of architecture, cuisine, behavior and dress were introduced. You know Sarajevo had a tram before Vienna did! In 1910 an assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph was organized for his visit. In the same year the governor of Bosnia & Herzegovina, General Marijan VareĹĄanin was shot, and on June 28 1914 a young Serbian nationalist by the name of Gavrilo Princip shot Prince Ferdinand and his pregnant wife on the streets of Sarajevo.

This event not only sparked the end of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia & Herzegovina, but also led to the large political disagreements between the great powers that preceded the first battles of World War I. DH: ~ Assassination of Ferdinand is something that we learn from the history book today world wide?

CofBiH: ~ that is one of the things that mark B&H and Sarajevo in the eyes of the world. At that time Bosnia & Herzegovina entered the kingdom with a severely depleted population, a depressed social and economic atmosphere and strained religious and ethnic relations after 40 years of Austro-Hungarian rule.

Many argue that during this period, and the only reason was the constitution. Serb side wanted centralistic state, but the other side (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia) wanted decentralist state with some kind of autonomy of all states inside the Kingdom of SHS (Serbs, Croat and Slovenians). Later on Serbian King renamed this country into�Yugoslavia“. The new government tried to continue a conciliatory policy towards Germany but ten days alter on April 6 massive bombing on Belgrade began and Yugoslavia was invaded by German, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Italian forces.

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The ”resistance“ lasted 11 days until the Yugoslav army surrendered to the German High Command.

DH: ~ Josip Broz Tito is the leader of partisan resistance in communistic Yugoslavia of that time, what is his position in that time?

CofBiH: ~ Depending on who you talk to, Tito was either a monstrous communist dictator or a peacekeeping socialist visionary, but majority of people loves him still today. At the end of World War II, Yugoslavia, like much of Europe, was a mess. By the mid fifties, religious life in Yugoslavia had improved, with new laws that allowed freedom of religion, although the state was mandated with directing and controlling these institutions. Massive changes to the infrastructure, particularly road systems, opened impenetrable Bosnia & Herzegovina for the first time. The National Roads Launch of 1968 aimed at connecting every town in the country with asphalt roads.

Almost a thousand schools and libraries were built. The library programme was largely funded by Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić, for his book about Bridge on Drina, a beautiful bridge that is today on World heritage list together with bridge in Mostar.

The university system was expanded from Sarajevo to Banja Luka, Tuzla, Mostar, Zenica and other major cities in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

DH: ~ So life started again in B&H? You know communism in this country was something different then in others, maybe because of Tito or cause here everything is special… For the average person in Bosnia & Herzegovina, life was good. People had jobs, relatively comfortable lifestyles and were free to travel and work abroad. 1984 in Sarajevo were held XIV Winter Olympic Games. There were a recordable number of competitors, journalists Page 9

and visitors, these ware a great times for B&H. After the death of Tito in 1980, Bosnia & Herzegovina continued to enjoy relative prosperity. The deep crisis in Kosovo in the early eighties, however, gave further fuel to the nationalist cause.

By the mid 1980s, the economic situation in Yugoslavia began to deteriorate.

DH: ~ I did not know that there was a winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo?

CofBiH: ~ That is one of the events that put the B&H and Sarajevo on the world map again, they say it was the best organized Olympic Games till that time, this was a silence before the storm…but you know in 1987 inflation rose 120% and by the next year that rate had doubled. In 1989 strikes against the local party leaders in Vojvodina and Montenegro set the stage for the new leader of the Communists Slobodan Milošević. He clearly had an agenda of transformation and he quickly set to replacing party leaders with his own supporters.

DH: ~ this was a kind of end for Yugoslavia?

Talk of independence increased in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in 1990, and at 14th Congress of the league of Communists of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević, backed by the Yugoslav Peoples Army (JNA), issued a warning that republics seeking independence would face a border changes. In Bosnia & Herzegovina the situation was still relatively calm. The communist party had almost vanished and the country was governed by three parties: Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) led by indicted war criminal Radovan Karadžić, and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) which was a branch of Franjo Tuđman's Croatia proper party.

DH: ~ this was a start of repetition of national identities again, right?

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CofBiH: ~ Yes, now in more obvious and much clearer manner. As in Slovenia and Croatia, a referendum for independence was held, in March 1992. The Bosnian Croats and Muslims voted in favor, while the majority of the Serbian population boycotted the vote process. Of Bosnia & Herzegovina's population 65% called for independence and, despite threats, Bosnia & Herzegovina declared independence. On April 6 1992 the European Union and the United Nations recognised Bosnia & Herzegovina as an independent state. On the same day the JNA and paramilitary forces attacked capital of Sarajevo. Tens of thousands of Sarajevans of all nationalities took the streets to protest in front of barricades. As they peacefully marched toward the barricades a sniper from the hill fired into the crowd, killing a Serbian woman from Sarajevo and a Muslim girl from Dubrovnik.

DH: ~ Start of conflict was right here?

CofBiH: ~ this sparked the beginning of what would be a long and brutal campaign against Bosnia & Herzegovina. In less than a year Yugoslavia saw three of its six republics secede. Macedonia followed suit and UN force was sent to intersect any pending ambitions on Macedonia. Serbia and Montenegro, together with the provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo, was now all that remained of Yugoslavia.

Independence for Bosnia & Herzegovina was greeted with a genocide that had not been seen on European soil since the extermination of the Jews in World War II. These territories also included large swathes of the Krajina, Slavonia in Croatia and all of Bosnia & Herzegovina. By the end of 1992 over 70% of Bosnia & Herzegovina was occupied, and over a million of people had fled the country. After President of France Francois Mitterand visited Sarajevo most Bosnians and Herzegovinians, Page 11

including the first President of Bosnia & Herzegovina Alija Izetbegović, believed that the West would not allow this horror to continue any more.

DH: ~ a casualties of war was big and horrible?

CofBiH: ~ Approximately 10,000 civilians, including 1,500 children, were killed in capital of Sarajevo alone, news paper Oslobođenje, (what in translation meaning Freedom press), did not miss a single day of print despite the lack of paper and supplies. Culture and cultural life did not die during these hard war times, it flourished in the most defiant form of non violent resistance, and I have to say that I’m personally proud of this difficult times. Bosnians walked through the rain of gun fire to have coffee with a friend and held a Miss Sarajevo beauty pageant in a basement during one of the worst periods of the war, maybe you have heard about this song made by Pavarotti and Bono from U2. A Dayton Peace contract was signed on 21st November 1995 in Dayton, Ohio.

DH: ~ this has left a country with a big scar I imagine?

CofBiH: ~ You know, the spirit of a multi ethnic community has never died, and you know I think it newer will. Hundreds of thousands of Bosnians and Herzegovinians, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats lost their lives, homes and heritage, some in the most horrific ways imaginable. And although in some circles the madness of ethnic purity still exists you will find that in most places in Bosnia & Herzegovina today people are determined to live a normal life again, and to live together ... as they always trough history have lived together.

DH: ~ a great story, thank you…it sounds like a fairytale to me?

CofBiH: ~ you have to know that years just after the war were one of the hardest

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moments in entire history of Bosnia & Herzegovina. It started rehabilitation and rebuilding era in this country. Today, 14 years after the war Bosnia & Herzegovina become one of the most successful countries in world, and many countries use it as an example of great and fast growing from absolutely nothing to something great.

Economy of Bosnia & Herzegovina is with the biggest growth rate in world and makes Bosnia & Herzegovina medium developed country.

DH: ~ I have heard that all of B&H is special but Sarajevo has as special charm?

CofBiH: ~ There is also Mostar, Banja luka, Jajce, Bihac… and for sure Sarajevo, it is the one of fastest changing cities in the world, and it is a wonderful capital, one of the most interesting ones in Europe. Where else you would find an Orthodox and Catholic churches, a mosque and a synagogue side by side in the same square… this can happen only in Sarajevo! You know they call it a European Jerusalem. More then one million refugees backed to their homes, almost all roads and buildings in whole country are renovated, new factories are opening and life is becoming better and better. More than a decade and the half after the war, you'll be pleasantly surprised by a mosaic of landscapes and a warm welcome of all Bosniaks and Herzegovinians, or as I like to say people that live and fell Bosnia and Herzegovina…

DH: ~ you know after this interview I have big plans to visit B&H… CofBiH: ~ you should do that, and know that this heart shaped land will not leave you untouched. Many people have arrived in B&H and stayed forever, this country is intoxicating sometimes, and has a rich history to back it up. Some travel agencies have put Bosnia & Herzegovina on the list of most interesting countries in world and

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they expect the biggest growth rate of tourist in this country. Its natural landscape and cultural Historic monuments are ones that are simply a must see… you know they say that you can find pyramids somewhere in Bosnia, but I did not find the time to go and visit them, you know how is this days, there is a lot of gaps to fill in…

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Imamovic, Enver, Space of BiH in prehistory and antics Lovrenovic, Dubravko, From Slavonic inhabitation to Kulin ban VII-XII ct.

Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A Short History 1994 Ivan Lovrenović, Bosnia: a cultural history. New York University Press 2001 Nilevic, Boris, Afirmation of Bosnian state Basler, Đuro, Cultural history of BiH, 1966 Klajić, Nada, Srednjevjekovna Bosanska Država Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the failure of the West, Rieff, New York, 1995 Klajić, Vjekoslav, Povjest Bosne, 1882, Svijetlost, 1990

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