Intangible cultural heritage of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the collection of the Monastery of St. Elijah

Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Jezuitski trg 4
Exhibition opening: Wednesday,
The exhibition remains open until July 21, 2019

The exhibition Intangible cultural heritage of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the collection of the Monastery of St. Elijah presents twelve cultural elements of the ethnographic collection from the Preliminary open list of intangible cultural heritage of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The List was put together by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports to include cultural phenomena that the Federation intends to nominate and include on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

These include: Konjic woodcarving; egg shoeing in Kreševo; lacework – kera; pilgrimage to Ajvatovica – Prusac; pilgrimage to St. John – Podmilačje; pottery work in Liješevo; grass mowing customs in Kupres; ganga, the polyphonic singing form of rural tradition; the singing of sevdalinka, the musical and poetic form of urban tradition; the building and playing of the karaduzen instrument; polyphonic singing “in threes” in Usora; and jumping from the Old Bridge in Mostar. Konjic woodcarving was included on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017, and the Grass Mowing Customs in Kupres have passed the nomination process.

The material for the exhibition Intangible cultural heritage of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the collection of the Monastery of St. Elijah is a part of the ethnographic collection kept in the Monastery and Spiritual Center “Karmel of St. Elijah” on Lake Buško near Tomislavgrad. The collection holds traditional clothes, jewelry, laces and utensils of all three peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks.

For this exhibition, the material about the intangible heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been selected from the entire ethnographic collection in the Monastery of St. Elijah. This is a multimedia exhibition presenting twelve cultural phenomena through items created using traditional crafts, accompanying texts, artistic photography and videos.

Although all cultural elements from the Preliminary open list are interesting and deserving of attention, some of the exhibits or exhibition sections should be especially noted. These include the maiden room from Konjic, which was hand-carved by Hamdija Hamdo Kadić called Gunjo (1896 – 1989). Sevdalinka is presented under the title Sevdah in the Imamović house and represents the songs through different historical periods and three generations of the Imamović family singers (Zaim, Nedžad and Damir).

Visitors will also have an opportunity to hear and see possibly the only remaining group of female singers performing Usora’s singing in threes.

Father Zvonko Martić, PhD