Bajric Mumin (76) from the settlement of Stijena near Cazin, owns a unique museum of antiquities, and his ethnological collection includes over 100 exhibits.
Mumin said that he started collecting old and rare items that many people were throwing out of their houses around six years ago, while he saw the true value in them. People heard about his hobby, and his cousins, neighbors, and friends decided to help him by bringing old items and antiques that were used in the area of Krajina not so long time ago or gave him advice on where to find that kind of things.
Mumin, whose house is located next to the Old Town of Bijela Stijena, always felt strong connection to old things and he was sorry to throw away those old items and, after finishing works on them, he placed them in one of the rooms of his renovated house until he comes up with an idea on what to do with them. While looking at these old things, which were standing on a pile in his home, he came to the idea of building his own museum and putting them in it.
“Each object has its own interesting story, such as one lantern that I found in the attic during the renovation of the old house and it is now hanging above the museum door, and it reminds me of times when I used to work my homework at night and studied from a new school book. There is also an old bell for horses, which is about 200 years old. It has the year of 1824 engraved in it, the time when the Ottomans were ruling in this area,” stated Mumin.
Museum of Antiquities of Mumin Bajric now preserves almost the entire history of this region of Stijene, and besides the aforementioned items, it also includes various dishes made of clay, wood, and metal, household items for work, supplies, furniture, and clothing.
Each item in his museum had its own purpose, it was created because of something, and someone used it to make its life easier.
“The old house was demolished because of the construction of a new one, but it would come in handy now for these items. I built this house where the museum is placed with my own hands and I gathered everything in it around Stijene and the surrounding area, and some of the people brought them themselves when they heard that I am gathering these old things,” said Mumin.
People come to him to visit the museum and see these antiquities when they hear that there is something in Stijene where they can see the whisper of history, which is caught and located in Mumin’s Museum of Antiquity and waiting to be revealed to all lovers of tradition.
(Source: faktor.ba)
