History fest, the seventh in a row, one of the most significant gatherings of historians in Southeast Europe, opened tonight in Sarajevo, organized by the Association for Modern History.
It opened with an exhibition of photographs about the state of the monuments in socialist Yugoslavia in memory of the legacy of the national liberation struggle from World War II, but also about today’s relationship in the countries created by the breakup of the common state towards those objects, most of which have great artistic value and carry strong messages about brotherhood.
This was followed by a panel on the Bosniak Parliament from September 1993, held in Sarajevo at the “Holiday Inn” Hotel, in a difficult period for the Bosniak people and the political elite during the last war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, fought from 1992 to the end of 1995.
The participants of the History Fest were greeted by the current Federal Minister of Culture Jasna Duraković and the Vice President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Pejanović.
The Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports has continuously supported the holding of this gathering of historians for years, and Minister Duraković promised further support tonight.
Pejanović said that the Association for Modern History, headed by Husnija Kamberović, has merit for the already achieved prestige of the History Fest, a meeting place for historians, not only from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also regional and European. This year’s festival is also important because it is held in the jubilee year of the AVNOJ session in 1943 in Jajce and the previous first session of ZAVNOBiH from the same year in Mrkonjić Grad, when the age-old, i.e. modern statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina was restored.
As Husnija Kamberović announced at the opening, this year the History Fest will be partly held outside of Sarajevo, in Konjic and Jablanica, and the general theme of the extensive program is nations, states and European integration. It emphasizes the topic of 1943 as the year of AVNOJ and the creation of the Yugoslav state in the Second World War, as well as the then great battles fought on the soil of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the program, the last day of this year’s History Fest will be Friday, June 9.
