Umjetnost i kultura su alati za zajednički život i komunikaciju

Piše: Elfie Husson

The English version is provided below. 

*Tekst je nastao u okviru Evropskih dijaloga (17–19. septembar, Sarajevo), u organizaciji Francuskog instituta i Ambasade Francuske u BiH. Stavovi izneseni u tekstu predstavljaju lični osvrt autora/autorica, učesnika/učesnica susreta.

Biografija autorice

Ja sam studentica iz Francuske.  Studiram Političke nauke te Studij muzeologije i kulturne baštine. Pišem memoare o predstavljanju Španskog građanskog rata u Muzeju Evrope i o uticaju tog sukoba na evropsko pamćenje. U slobodno vrijeme volim čitati, posjećivati muzeje i baviti se sportom.

Ovo mi je treći Evropski dijalog na kojem učestvujem, a prvi u Sarajevu. Kao studentica imala sam priliku da upoznam i povežem se sa studentima iz cijele Evrope. Susreti i razgovori koje smo vodili u Renneu, Briselu i sada u Sarajevu pomogli su nam da bolje razumijemo razlike u našim porijeklima, odnosu prema Evropi, ali i u iskustvima sukoba i trauma. Ovosedmični fokus na mir i sukobe u Sarajevu bio je za mene posebno zanimljiv i poučan, jer rat nisam doživjela iz prve ruke.

Studiram političke nauke i kulturnu medijaciju, a posebno me zanimaju muzeji i kulturne institucije. Vjerujem da one imaju važnu društvenu ulogu i da su jednako značajne kao i političke institucije u javnom prostoru. Prije nego što postane pokretač zajedničkog života, kultura je često meta napada u vrijeme rata i genocida: brišu se jezici, religijske prakse, načini življenja i pojedine umjetnosti. Od zabrane jezika do proglašavanja umjetnosti „degenerisanom“, kultura – kao institucija i kao svakodnevna praksa – postaje meta rata i jedno od najvažnijih sredstava kontrole ljudi. Ipak, upravo u toj „slaboj tački“ krije se i snaga kulture. Dolazi trenutak kada ona prestaje biti meta i prerasta u pokretač zajedništva.

O tome se razgovaralo i na panelu „Kultura kao pokretač zajedničkog života“ u Umjetničkoj galeriji Bosne i Hercegovine. Učestvovali su Cathy Bouvard (direktorica Ateliers Médicis), Nafise Motlaq (profesorica i rediteljica), Erdiola Mustafaj (fotografkinja i vizuelna umjetnica), Maja Salkić (direktorica Sarajevskog ratnog teatra) i Dejan Ubović (direktor KC-Grad centra u Beogradu i suosnivač Muzeja devedesetih), a razgovor su moderirali Melody Robinei Zola Chichmintseva-Kondamambou. Ključno pitanje bilo je: kako kulturne institucije mogu povezivati ljude i otvoriti prostor za razgovor o različitim historijama? Kako je istakla Cathy Bouvard: „Potrebne su nam kulturne institucije da bismo stvorili zajednički jezik.“

Umjetnost i kultura jesu alati zajedničkog života i komunikacije, što pokazuje i projekat Nafise Motlaq – tango zajednica koja koristi ples kao jezik povezivanja i nastoji uključiti sve plesače, izbjegavajući sukobe. Kultura ponovo može preuzeti snagu koja nam omogućava da živimo zajedno u različitosti i da razgovaramo uprkos razlikama.

Posebno sam se pronašla u riječima Cathy Bouvard o različitostima u Francuskoj, gdje nam je potrebna veća zastupljenost i prepoznavanje različitih historija, gdje moramo naučiti slušati glasove manjina i dati im prostor. To je ideja koju dijeli i Maja Salkić. Po njenom mišljenju, odgovornost je svakog pojedinca koji radi u kulturnim institucijama da zastupa društvene potrebe i osigura da se čuju glasovi manjina.

Za mene, upravo je to svrha Evropskog dijaloga: graditi razumijevanje različitih priča i sjećanja na traumatične i historijske događaje. To znači imati pristup različitim zemljama i kulturama, a još šire – promišljati ulogu koju kulturne institucije imaju u našim društvima.

Art and Culture as Means of Living Together and Communicating

* The text was created as part of the European Dialogues (September 17–19, Sarajevo), organized by the French Institute and the French Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The views expressed are solely those of the author(s) and participants of the event.

Writing: Elfie Husson

Short biography:

 I am a French student of Political Science and Museum and Patrimony Studies. I am writing a memoir on the representation of the Spanish Civil War in the Europe Museum, and the impact of the conflict on European memory. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, visiting museums and doing sports.

This is my third European Dialogue here in Sarajevo. As a student, I have had the opportunity to meet and connect with students from all over Europe. The meetings and discussions we have had in Rennes, Brussels and Sarajevo have made us realise the differences in our backgrounds, our connection to Europe, and our experiences of conflict and trauma. This week's focus on peace and conflict in Sarajevo has been very interesting and educational for me, as I did not experience war first-hand. 

I am a political science and cultural mediation student. I am particularly interested in museums and cultural institutions. I believe that they play a social role and are as important as political institutions in public spaces. Before being a vector of living together, culture is the target of attacks in times of war and genocide: languages, religious practices, cultural ways of living and certain arts are erased. From forbidding a language to exhibiting 'degenerate art', culture, as an institution and in everyday life, is the target in war and one of the most important tools for controlling people. I believe that this 'weak point' is also the 'strong point' of culture. There comes a turning point when culture shifts from being attacked to becoming a vector of living together. 

This was the focus of the panel 'Culture as a vector of living together' at the National Gallery of Sarajevo, featuring Cathy Bouvard (Director of the Ateliers Médicis), Nafise Motlaq (Professor and Filmmaker), Erdiola Mustafaj (Photographer and Visual Artist), Maja Salkic (Director of the Sarajevo War Theatre), and Dejan Ubovic (Director of the KC-Grad Centre Belgrade and Co-founder of the Museum of the 90s), moderated by Melody Robine and Zola Chichmintseva-Kondamambou. The most important question addressed was how cultural institutions can play a role in bringing people together and talking about different histories. As Cathy Bouvard said, 'We need cultural institutions to create a common language'. 

Arts and culture are tools for living together and communicating, as Nafise Motlaq's project shows: a tango dance community that uses dance as a means of communication and makes an effort to include all dancers, thereby avoiding conflict. Culture can be reappropriated as a tool and a strength to enable us to live together in diversity and communicate with each other despite our differences.  

I really identified with Cathy Bouvard’s discourse about diversity in France, where we need more representation and ‘recognition’ of different histories, and where we need to learn to hear the voices of minorities and give them a platform. This is an idea that Maja Salkic also supports. For her, it is an individual responsibility for those working in cultural institutions to ensure that social needs are represented and minorities are heard. 

For me, this is the purpose of European Dialogue: to promote understanding of different stories and memories of traumatic and historical events. It is about having access to different countries and cultures. And more broadly, the role of cultural institutions.