Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nuccio Franco - Grbavica is a neighborhood in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated between the downtown and the periphery of the city. During the 1990s war Grbavica was the front line within the city. At that time it was held by the Serb forces that had torture camps there.

In Mostar

Roberto Bordin - It's been a while since I've planned to take part in an international working camp and visit the countries that used to be part of the former Yugoslavia which made them, unfortunately, interesting to the world public for a long time. I decided to look for a working camp in the region during summer and visit some of the cities there.

Nature Park

Upon an invitation from a friend from the Zavidovici club “Atom” we came to visit the Tajan Nature Park and ride our bikes from Kamenica (not far from Zavidovici) to Ponijeri. What used to be a part of a mountaineering association “Tajan” became so active over time that it developed into a real club.

After 18 years, a direct train Sarajevo – Belgrade – Sarajevo is in operation again. There were 20 passengers on the first ride. According to the timetable, the train will be starting every day at 8.15 am from Belgrade and return from Sarajevo at 11.35 am all year long.

It was a journey to prevent forgetting the genocide that happened at our doorstep. A slow bicycle ride allows us to meet the places and the people in a world so close and yet so different from ours. This was an experience of pleasant physical strain of pedaling for 900 kilometers and seeing the country building its future against constant problems.

Nuccio Franco – Sarajevo is not being remembered as the city of birth of famous people like Goran Bregović, Emir Kusturica, or Vedran Smailović, the sad-faced musician playing the cello in Sarajevo’s National Library that was destroyed in the war. The city is not being remembered for the 1984 Olympics, nor is it called Jerusalem of the East, a Muslim center in the heart of Europe.

The Sevdah Festival

The Association of Stage Performers from the Tuzla Canton (TK) and Tuzla’s Bosnian Culture Center (BKC) organized the second Sevdalinka Festival this year. It was called “Sevdalinka, I hold you in my heart” and it took place on December 11, 2009 at 9 PM.

The eyes of the Sarajevo mountain biking lovers have been sparkling for a while now at the mention of the name Zelengora, especially the eyes of those who have had a chance to see its dense forest and mountain peaks from the Maglić. Aside from the tales about the partisans hiding on Zelengora, most people still perceive it as something distant, beyond reach, mystical and – beautiful.

Eat good cheese

There will be a cheese exhibition taking place at Mostar’s “Herceg Stjepan Kosača” Center on November 21 organized by the Sheep Cheese and Meat Producers Association “Pramenka”, with the support from Italian NGO UCODEP, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture of BiH Federation and the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

Ministers of culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro met in Sarajevo to sign a Letter of Intent for establishing cooperation among institutions for the presentation and preparation of a joint project of nominating the stećak (medieval tombstones) to be enlisted on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.