Sarajevo War Theater SARTR was established on the 17th of May 1992 at the initiative of directors Dubravko Bibanović and Gradimir Gojer, Djordje Mačkić and author Safet Plakalo, and brought together actors and other associates from three professional Sarajevo theaters that, due to the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina had to suspend their work, according to the website of SARTR.
In August 1992, SARTR was constituted as a military unit at the Regional Military Headquarters of the Armed Forces of B&H in Sarajevo, and on January 12, 1993, by decision of the War Presidency of the Assembly of Sarajevo it was constituted as a public institution in the field of culture with particular interest to defend the town.
By decision of the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton on the 24th of July 1997, the role of the founder of SARTR was given to the Canton Sarajevo. In 2003, Sarajevo War Theater SARTR received the Sixth April Award of City of Sarajevo.
Asserting itself as one of the phenomena of spiritual resistance in the besieged Sarajevo, SARTR was the first BH theater that, already in 1994 and 1995, succeeded in venturing into Europe and presenting itself as a segment of the autochthonous culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In an article from the 9th of October 2013, the New York Times described Sarajevo War Theater (Sartre) as a “symbol of resistance” and “the most creative stage in the city,’’ and called it the “theater of the soul.”
(Source: nap.ba)
