An exhibition entitled “National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina – City Hall 22 Years Later” was opened as part of the marking of the 22nd anniversary from burning down the BiH National University Library (NUBBiH).
Director of NUBBiH dr. Ismet Ovčina, Federation Minister of Education and Culture Damir Mašić, representative of the Italian Embassy Ilaria Ragnoni, commander of the Professional Fire Brigade Ismet Tucak and art conservationist Nihad Čengić addressed the gathered people.
Welcoming the attendees, Ovčina reminded that the story about the burned down library is troublesome and sad even after 22 years and he stressed that the 90 percent of library holdings were completely destroyed.
“For the citizens of Sarajevo and BiH, the City Hall represented the symbol of spirituality and proof of centuries-long intertwinement of tradition and culture. It was a place of gathering, studying and socializing for many generations of students, professors, scientists, researchers and even for those who dared to lay a hand on it,” Ovčina said.
“We can send a message from this place that the power of the value of civilization and cohabitation overpowered any anti-civilizational act despite the long and painful resistance and the courage, beauty and nurturing of human values and civilizational achievements have their general values whose beauty can and must win,” Minister Mašić emphasized.
Representative of the Italian Embassy emphasized the significance of the City Hall not only for BiH but for the entire world because everyone participated in its restoration and she expressed great joy because of future cooperation between Italian cultural institutions and NUBBiH.
Art conservationist Nihad Čengić stressed that the story about the Library, about the City Hall, is not finished and that we have an opportunity to build a new knowledge repository “a library which will be available to everyone with holdings so numerous Sarajevo could have never imagined it.”
“We tried to save the books from the scorching flames like as if they were humans, we protected them with our bodies like they were our children,” Ismet Tucak said, remembering the day when the City Hall was burned down and citizens of Sarajevo together with firefighters tried to extinguish the fire.
The exhibition showed some editions of daily and weekly newspapers Oslobođenje, Ljiljan, Večernje novine, Muslimanski glas. The headlines on some of them said “The Fire of a Sick Mind” or “Farwell to Reason” and similar articles which were published after the City Hall was burned down.
Organizers pointed out that, with this exhibition, they wanted to show that the National and University Library belongs to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina regardless of its status having not yet been resolved.
(Source: Fena)
