The UNSA Days began with the opening of the stonemasonry workshop and the Bridges of Sarajevo exhibition

Academic sculptor Dr. Adis Elias Fejzić, in the presence of representatives of the University of Sarajevo, today opened a new stonemasonry workshop that will operate on the UNSA campus. With this event, the second UNSA Art Days festival began, designed as a joint university project of teachers and students of three art academies. From today to Saturday, in the organization of academies of music, fine, and performing arts, special events open to the public will take place. The stonemason's workshop is something that sculpture students and professors have been longing for for a long time. According to Darko Šobot, the head of the sculpture department at the Academy of Fine Arts, the space they received from the UNSA campus is the perfect place for the workshop. "This is exactly how a stonework workshop, a sculptor's studio, should look, as a wide square space with access for stone transport. It will be open for work with students, and all the works of art carved here will be placed in the campus grounds. This is the first time that something like this is happening in the field of sculpture in Sarajevo," Šobot said. The workshop is located in one of the hangars on campus. Stone blocks weighing several tons were brought here in the previous days. The traditional Sarajevo stone 'hreša' is a donation from the Hreša quarry, for which the artists are especially grateful. "In the coming period, I will present stone carving as a specific work technique to students and other interested parties. But in this case, the carving will be directed towards something we call "Bosnian style." This term was first coined by Marian Wenzel and gave us the definition of our value, which we have as a heritage. The workshop leans directly on the tradition of stećak carving, which I studied for many years," says Adis Fejzić, an artist who revived the art of stećak with his contemporary works in stone. Tamara Karača Beljak, vice-rector for art, art-research work, and sport at UNSA, points out in a statement to Radiosarajevo.ba that in the seventy-third year of the university's existence, two academies have their significant anniversaries. The Academy of Fine Arts celebrates its fiftieth birthday, while the Academy of Performing Arts celebrates its fortyth anniversary. The music academy is approaching its seventieth birthday. "The academies have very large production. Especially in the post-pandemic period, they started with significant activities: festivals, film production, plays, concerts, and exhibitions. We already started the UNSA Art Days last year intending to create a platform and, in a short period, bring art from these three academies to the public and future students. This is a kind of promotion of enrollment, not only to art academies but also to the University of Sarajevo in general," Karača Beljak pointed out. It is important to point out that since this year the National Museum has joined the UNSA family as a teaching base. "Before, we cooperated very well with colleagues from the National Museum, from humanists and artists to those who come from natural professions. Now we have formalized it so that the National Museum has officially become the teaching base of UNSA," emphasized vice-rector Karača Beljak. On this occasion, the "Bridges of Sarajevo" exhibition was opened in the area of the National Museum, where the works of high school students were presented, i.e., future UNSA students, and the exhibition was realized in cooperation with the Sarajevo High School of Applied Arts.

Tamara Karača Beljak, Elma Šobot, and Amra Patković

The first day of the festival will be rounded off by the promotion of the monograph "Symphonic Music in Bosnia and Herzegovina," authored by Dr. Amre Bosnić, professor at the Department of Music Theory and Pedagogy at the UNSA Academy of Music, which will be held at the Bosniak Institute at 6:00 p.m. On Friday, an ethnomusicological symposium is scheduled to be held on the premises of the Music Academy in Sarajevo. On Saturday, a review of films by students of the Academy of Performing Arts selected by Prof. Elma Tataragić will conclude the evening with a concert by BiH composers in the House of Armed Forces. Entrance to all festival events is free.

Opening of the exhibition Bridges of Sarajevo in the National Museum (https://radiosarajevo.ba/)