He is different. Always in black, with a specific style, elegant and refined, but with a touch of that irresistible Sarajevo charm and sleight of hand. Striking and brilliant. Adis Fejzić is one of our best sculptors and the first Bosnian Doctor of Science in sculpture. Although he has been living and working in Australia for many years, he bases most of his works on Bosnian culture and tradition. Thus, Fejzić, as one of our greatest researchers of Bosnian stećak, succeeded in reviving the forgotten art of Bosnian stećak, positioning it in the world as an authentic art form. BH is highly respected. sculptor. Although you graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, you continued your career in Australia, where you live and work. Why Australia? I live and work in BiH and Australia at the same time. I graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Sarajevo, where I began to train as a sculptor, and later graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo with a bachelor's and master's degree. I am going to Australia due to a combination of family and professional circumstances. I got married and planned to live exclusively from the sale of my art, which unfortunately is not possible in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nevertheless, the master's thesis unexpectedly pushed me further into doctoral research in Australia. For the last fifteen years, I have been living as a freelance artist and researcher. From time to time I am a lecturer at ALU in Sarajevo, and in Australia, I am a research associate of anthropologist Hariz Halilović (RMIT University).
You received your doctorate at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, on the topic of Bosnian stećaks, which our wise people would say, "You can be from Bosnia, but Bosnia will not be from you". Where did the inspiration for Bosnian stećci come from? Stećak is not only a medieval tombstone but one of the most important artifacts of our culture and a primary source for reading our past. And for me, it is even more. I received the PhD title for a thesis devoted to a better understanding of the stećak as a sculpture and as a metaphor for my identity. Under its archaism, Bosnian kam hides a quality that I call 'multisculptural'—an ' - an endemic value that is not found in other traditions. I think I can sign Mako's words: "The stećak is for me what is not for others, what others did not know how to see on it and in it." In the stećak, I find an anachronistic hub of various sculptural contents and traditions and inspiration to (re)interpret this art as a personal artistic expression. Through the creative resurrection of the extinct medieval tradition, I create an opus with which the centuries-old discontinuity of stećak art becomes AdisContinuity. This 'egocentric' game with the title/signature is just casual opportunistic exhibitionism, while the essence of my art lies in the pursuit of higher and universal values. It is wrong to evaluate my work outside of what Marian Wenzel defines as the Bosnian style, outside of the humanism with which Bogdan Bogdanović dreams of memorials of the new age, or outside of the context in which Oto Bihalji-Merin interprets stećaks as "art in which eternity has become a style." Stećci is a diagnosis that I don't want to get rid of. However, unrelated to my condition and understanding, I think that BiH society needs to improve its attitude towards this 'bilig' of our existence. We need an Institute for the Protection and Study of Stećak. Carelessness and inappropriate behavior towards the stećci is an anti-Bosnian and anti-civilization act, especially after the inscription of the stećci on the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage. Who is your biggest role model in the profession? I could neither count all my role models nor single out the greatest. My education was mainly focused on stone sculpture and the technique of direct stone carving. But, paradoxically, many of my role models/teachers are not exclusively people from my 'closer and wider professional homeland'—they are not exclusively sculptors or visual artists in the broader sense. Blessed with the possibility of 'transmission of experiences and principles', I developed through the (most) different interactions with the world. I learn to draw, sculpt, and paint from musicians, poets, philosophers, scientists, and not only from visual artists. Of course, with role models from my guild, things are immeasurably more concrete. Among them, I would single out people who carved stećaks; they influenced me as much as the classics. I am a medieval Bosnian and Hum/Herzegovinian 'smith' who was born in the 20th century and makes stećci in the 21st century. Who is your biggest role model in the profession? I could neither count all my role models nor single out the greatest. My education was mainly focused on stone sculpture and the technique of direct stone carving. But, paradoxically, many of my role models/teachers are not exclusively people from my 'closer and wider professional homeland'—they are not exclusively sculptors or visual artists in the broader sense. Blessed with the possibility of 'transmission of experiences and principles', I developed through the (most) different interactions with the world. I learn to draw, sculpt, and paint from musicians, poets, philosophers, scientists, and not only from visual artists. Of course, with role models from my guild, things are immeasurably more concrete. Among them, I would single out people who carved stećaks; they influenced me as much as the classics. I am a medieval Bosnian and Hum/Herzegovinian 'smith' who was born in the 20th century and makes stećci in the 21st century. You placed a contemporary interpretation of the stećak in front of the Australian Parliament building in Canberra. How did the local public react to that? This is one of the first sculptures with which I revived the art of stećak. I even reconstruct and (or) 'insinuate' some possibilities and directions in which this art could have developed if it had continued to exist beyond the Middle Ages. I expand the stylistic and expressive construct of the traditional stećak without losing its essence and authenticity. The name of this stećak - B&[email protected] – merges the elements of antique and electronic communication into a whole semantic construction with which I describe and sign the sculpture. The word hierophany underlines the importance of BiH. cultural qualities that I present as a metaphor in the Australian stone. My creative (re)interpretation of the stećak was evaluated in Australia as valuable both on an artistic-academic but also on a political-diplomatic level. B&Hierophany… stands in the park outside Parliament House in Canberra. On this stone is a symbol that I call Abraham's seal - an interweaving of the Star of David, the cross, and the crescent moon - the first time that I present our 'multidimensional' identity in this way (officially and internationally). The Australian stećak could be an opportunity for (not only symbolic) improvement of relations with other countries and the diaspora. Unfortunately, we still don't have institutions/individuals/programs that would work on this kind of promotion of our culture in the world.
Your works adorn many galleries around the world. What work are you particularly proud of? NI has such a relationship with my work that I could single out work that I am proud of. However, the recently promoted new Key to the City of Sarajevo is something I am happy with as a human being, a Bosnian/Herzegovinian, and an artist. Infusion with the symbol from the Bosnian rug, I turned the already mentioned Abraham's seal into the Key to the City. A completely logical feature for Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, an abbreviation for our multiculturalism, and dare I say it, our talisman. For the first time in history, a city is officially, and with full rights, presented with such an inclusive symbol. Jerusalem could have done this too, but Sarajevo and I were faster (and maybe more than that), and we will forever remain the first... and maybe the first and only. Would you agree with the statements of some of your colleagues that sculpture is a creative masterpiece? I don't know the context, so I can't comment directly, but I know that sculpting is hard and dirty work... Zuko Džumhur claims that "anyone who says that hard work enriches and ennobles us is lying. Hard work is just exhausting. ... is a punishment, not a reward. Work should be light, beautiful, full of pleasure, and without worries". I think that with sculpture you can experience both the most beautiful and the ugliest that work brings to a person. In addition to art, you are also very active in education. You participated in international projects to improve your knowledge of Bosnia and Herzegovina. artist? I was part of the project 'Transfer of knowledge from the diaspora', which connected our institutions with experts and academics who live outside Bosnia and Herzegovina. The organizers were the Swiss government, IOM BH, UNDP BH, and the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of BH. My lectures and workshops were realized as part of classes at ALU and the Pedagogical Academy in Sarajevo. This project has an expiration date and will lose its meaning if Bosnia and Herzegovina. institutions do not continue direct cooperation with experts from the diaspora. You are also active in BHAAAS. The assembly of BHAAAS was held recently, in which you took an active part. What does BHAAAS mean to you and are you planning new projects in the "Art Section"? BHAAAS's 'Art Section', in cooperation with representatives of the humanities disciplines, is preparing the most comprehensive program for the next conference. We also have several new members who want to further profile themselves and contribute to the further development of the Academy itself. For me, BHAAAS is important because it connects the intelligence of the diaspora and the motherland, which can significantly help Bosnia and Herzegovina in its integral development. I believe that this moment is the most important for all members of the Academy. What quality should someone who wants to sculpt possess, apart from a steady hand? As with all things, you need to have some talent, or at least the inclination, and then the dedication and passion to deal with that work in the long run. And then, along with all the material and technical conditions for practicing sculpture, and still before a calm hand', one should also have a (un)calm (al) and focused mind. Something for the end? It never ends and I wish us all health and happiness and much more wisdom than we have had so far. Just like Zuko J says. - "Let's be smart so that they are not bad".
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