Literature is a collection of written manuscripts, works, documents, as well as written monuments of a language, people, culture or civilization. The importance of literature is so great that precisely this form of art, or the existence of a people’s literature, was taken as the basis in determining whether those people really existed.
Bosnian and Herzegovinian literature and its authors are often given little credit, so it always gives us hope to see young people raising awareness about the importance of cultural growth and development of a people, especially when those young people are the Hastor Foundation’s scholarship holders. On many occasions, our scholarship holders have been the ones who have taken the initiative for making a change; and, by doing so, they have tested their own boundaries and moved forward. Further in the text, we will talk about how our scholarship holders, Nejla Komar (a fourth-year student at the Sarajevo Music Academy) and Ada Sivac (a third-year student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo), took part in the closing ceremony of Pop Art Festival and how their artistic performance was dedicated to great literary figures of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The closing ceremony of the fifth Pop Art Festival presented a program dedicated to the great literary figures of Bosnian and Herzegovinian literature. Young artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina paid their tribute – those were the students studying at three academies in Sarajevo (the Academy of Music, the Academy of Performing Arts, and the Academy of Fine Arts). Their performance was named “The Flow of Dark Blue River” and was realized on the Liberation Square – Alija Izetbegović in Sarajevo.
Nejla outlines the importance of this performance: A goal of this performance is to raise awareness about this part of cultural heritage located in the center of Sarajevo, where one can find statues of Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar, Ivo Andrić, Meša Selimović, Skender Kulenović, Branko Čopić, Rodoljub Čolaković, Isak Samokovlija, and Veselin Masleša.
Students from the Academy of Performing Arts marked the beginning of the ceremony by reading excerpts from works written by national authors. The students then invited the attendees to approach each statute, where they could see the students of the Academy of Fine Arts – Ada included – who were painting portraits of the abovementioned literary figures, as well as the students of the Academy of Music who had their own solo performances. Among the students of the Academy of Music was Nejla, who was playing the cello while the audience was listening to the words of Ivo Andrić and Meša Selimović. She described her experience: With all the colours, the readings and the sounds of instruments It seemed like the entire square came to life. The statues were no longer motionless, for the performances brought them to life.
The program was brought to an end with a choir performance, where an octet from the Academy of Music in Sarajevo recited the poem “The Dark Blue River” written by the Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar. In this way, students from three different academies in Sarajevo collaborated as a part of such an important topic for the Bosnian and Herzegovinian culture.
These two scholarship holders are very much active despite the many commitments at their universities. Nejla has had a chance so far to participate in many national and international concerts, festivals, and projects. Some of them are such occasions as the grand opening of the City Hall in Sarajevo, Sarajevo Winter Festival, book promotions, and exhibitions. She also had a chance to take part in a few charity concerts which were hosted in Mostar and Sarajevo. On the other hand, Ada proudly highlights her victory at the National First Aid Competition in 2019. She also mentioned the invitation she had received from Cultus BH – an organization which promotes artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina – to organize an exhibition of her own works in Munich. Ada currently spends most of her time at an art studio where she and sculptor Enes Sivac work on numerous sculptural projects.
The Foundation constantly works on promoting Bosnian and Herzegovinian culture and our greatest achievements. This said, we are thrilled to have as our family members young people like Ada and Nejla, who, in this time of questionable cultural values, support and highlight something that really matters and represents the culture of our country.
Prepared by: Alek Isaković
Translated by: Said Kamenica
