The exhibition From stone to fiber – a journey through Bosnian history

The exhibition from stone to fiber – a journey through Bosnian history consists of two parts, art paintings by author Aldin Popaja and Banja Luka serdžads, owned by collector Enver Kasum. These two entities are seemingly different, but they have a common origin, which is getting to know and meeting the rich Bosnian spirituality through artistic expression in the present and in the past.

The artistic paintings of Aldin Popaja, an artist from Bosnia and the Czech Republic, represent a contemporary painterly statement centered around stećci, medieval tombstones that bear witness to the rich and complex identity of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using the symbols he finds on stećci as inspiration, Aldin Popaja puts them in a new context and gives them a new life through his works of art.

Banja Luka serdžades are the only item that was known and relatively widespread in the Ottoman Empire and that was named after a Bosnian toponym. To this day, only a small number of specimens have survived worldwide, and the valuable collection presented in this exhibition was assembled by Enver Kasum, who lives and works in the USA and is originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This exhibition presents the largest known collection of these objects (eight specimens) to date, giving experts and the general public the opportunity to gain a more comprehensive insight into these extraordinary examples of Islamic art that were created in Bosnia and Herzegovina several centuries ago.

The exhibition opens up space for dialogue between the past and the present, between art, cultural heritage and the audience, and invites visitors to reflect on all these themes that the exhibition brings to us through the presented artifacts.