Socially engaged art allows questioning, disclosure, analysis of their own position and role in society, as well as questioning identity. When we talk about activism in art, we are talking about trying to change the world view and to raise awareness of the topics on which most people do not pay enough attention. What is socially engaged art in Bosnia and Herzegovina today and what are the biggest problems encountered by Bosnian artists?

We were looking for answers to these and many other questions together with our guests.

Guests who participated in the panel discussion:

The panel discussion was opened with a short documentary film called "Socially Engaged Artists in Bosnia and Herzegovina", which was created on the initiative of the working group "Culture" within the i-platform.

The purpose of this film is to inform the diaspora as well as the art scene in Switzerland about socially engaged art in Bosnia and Herzegovina today, including also all relevant actors and their creativity and engagement.

We talked with five artists from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina who answered, each from their own point of view, the following five questions:

How do you define your art and why do you do what you do? What message do you want to convey through your art?

Where does the inspiration for creation come from, with whom do you cooperate?

Is there an art that is not socially engaged?

Which parallels exist between being an artist in Bosnia and Herzegovina and being an artist in Europe?

What are, in your opinion, the nice and positive things that are happening in art in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Check this video out to find the answers:

The following artists participate in the film: Sandra Bradvić, Irfan Brković, Smirna Kulenović, Mak Hubjer, Marina Đapić i Jasenko Pašić. The short film was directed by Tarik Hodžić.

i-platform is grateful to all those who with their ideas, creativity, dedication and hard work contributed to the creation of this film.

During the one-hour panel discussion in the crowded room Karl der Grosse in Zurich, we discussed the position of artists and arts in Bosnia and Herzegovina today. All the participants, each from their own point of view, provided answers to questions about where they find inspiration, whether they have enough financial resources to create, whether they have an audience and are able to convey the desired message.

They discussed the role of art in social movements and concluded that socially engaged art is somewhere between ethics and aesthetics, renunciation and merits, art and activism. The topic was the departure of young people and their creativity beyond the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The intense interaction with the audience was about the spread of Bosnian-Herzegovinian art beyond the borders of the country, its "universality" and the possibilities of understanding outside the context of the country in which it was created, as well as the active promotion of Bosnian-Herzegovinian art in the world.

Discussion and socialising, as well as the creation of new ideas and networking, continued until the late evening hours at the Apéro, which followed the panel discussion.