A year has passed since the great Josip Pejaković left us, and his death represents an irreparable loss for culture, but also for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In his youth, he was engaged in music. In his native Travnik, he was a member of the rock group Veziri. However, he found his calling in life in the theater. He started his career at the National Theater in Zenica, after which he got a job at the National Theater in Sarajevo.
We will remember him for the monodramas “He doesn’t have Bosnia for me”, “Oh, my life”, “Država i papci”, “Ooo, refugees” and others. The monodrama “He has no Bosnia for me” has become a symbol of love for the homeland.
“How, there is no Bosnia and Miljacka river is running? How, there is no Bosnia and Sana river is flowing? You think she is not going, but bend down to the horse, look, she is going. Sana is going, Sava is going, Drina is going, Ukrina is going, Vrbas is going, Bosna is going, Lašva is going, Željeznica is going. They are all going, and where are you going?”, is part of the monodrama “He has no Bosnia for me”.
In addition to the theater, he achieved notable roles in numerous series and films that characterized Yugoslav cinematography, among which the films “Gluhi barut”, “Savršeni krug” and the series “Tale” and “Slaves” stand out.
He also left his mark in literature, having written the books “Bosnom hodim”, “Grivo”, “Common Prayer”, “Dayton Misunderstanding”, “Mothers of Srebrenica” and others. In an interview with Klix.ba in 2024, he spoke, among other things, about the gathering in front of the Eternal Flame of people who are the biggest deniers of November 25th and who tacitly agreed that there would be no Vojislav Đedo Kecmanović Street in Sarajevo, and who are giving streets to fascists.
“The same people who lay flowers there and gather in the City Hall do not invite me, who is the recipient of the ZAVNOBiH Lifetime Achievement Award. They do not need me with such attitudes. They need a reason to provoke the other side, who will say: ‘We do not recognize this.’ “Who is in charge? Nobody. Neither those who acknowledge it nor those who don’t. That’s the current politics that governs these areas. I wouldn’t hesitate to tear down any monument, not even one to Hitler. I would leave it, but I would write on a plaque who Hitler was, who Stalin was, who Tito was, who all of them were. They think they tore down the monument so they can do anything after that. For us, politics has mostly come down to where and when a monument will be torn down in order to erect a monument to someone else. That’s why we have absolutely no continuity,” he explained, Klix.ba writes.
