In the authentic setting of the national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – Svrzo’s House, during July and August 2025, concerts of sevdah under the title “Sevdah of Damir Imamovic in Svrzo’s House” will be held every Wednesday.
Within this unique cultural program, Damir Imamovic, one of the most significant contemporary interpreters of sevdalinka and recipient of the award for the best European artist for 2021, will present to the audience a top artistic interpretation of the musical heritage of BiH, with guest appearances by renowned musicians from BiH and abroad.
Damir Imamovic, the main protagonist of the project, expressed a particularly emotional connection with Svrzo’s House, a place to which he dedicated his second album.
“This space is the best possible place for the concert series we are planning this summer. It will be a free space for play, exploration, and presentation of the richness of sevdalinka. Not only through music but also through stories about the origin and context of each song. In this way, we want to show the breadth and depth of this genre, which is inseparably linked to space, time, and people,” said Imamovic, adding that each concert will have a different concept and setup, including solo performances, guest appearances by young artists from BiH and the region, as well as performances of songs that he has not publicly interpreted until now.
Concerts of Damir Imamovic will be held every Wednesday in the women’s courtyard of Svrzo’s House, one of the most representative examples of Ottoman residential architecture from the 18th century.
The artistic content will be further enriched with lavish, ambient lighting, so during nine summer evenings in July and August 2025, the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy concerts of high production quality.
Indira Kucuk-Sorguc, director of the Sarajevo City Museum as the institutional host of the event, pointed out the coincidence that Svrzo’s House, after renovation, was reopened precisely on the day when sevdalinka was included on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
“This is a capital project that unites cultural heritage, a space of special aesthetics, and top interpretation. Damir Imamovic is a natural host of this space, his artistic expressiveness comes to full expression here. Sevdah is our spiritual heritage and we believe that Svrzo’s House can become a recognizable place in Sarajevo where sevdalinka is lived and nurtured,” said Kucuk-Sorguc.
Mastercard, as a project partner, brings the opportunity to experience these concerts with an additional benefit of a 15% discount on tickets when paying with a Mastercard card. The benefit applies to all Mastercard cards issued in BiH and abroad.
The project, implemented by the Sarajevo Navigator Foundation in cooperation with the Sarajevo City Museum, is inspired by two important international recognitions: the proclamation of Sarajevo as the best world destination for 2025 according to National Geographic magazine, and the inclusion of sevdalinka on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Announcing the project, Nedim Lipa from the Sarajevo Navigator Foundation pointed out that tourists who visit Sarajevo rarely have the opportunity to regularly experience sevdah in an authentic setting.
“We wanted to offer both citizens and visitors of the city a new program concept that unites art, heritage, and top production. Svrzo’s House, as a space where sevdalinka originated, is the ideal place for such an experience. Damir Imamovic is not only an interpreter but also an academic researcher and writer of sevdah, which gives the project additional depth,” said Lipa, adding that an outstanding team has been gathered that has created a program that will bring new cultural value to Sarajevo and BiH.
Speaking about the support of the City of Sarajevo, Mayor Predrag Puharic emphasized that sevdah carries a strong emotion that deserves special attention in the cultural life of the city.
“Citizens and tourists will have the opportunity to experience the authentic experience of sevdalinka in Svrzo’s House. Damir Imamovic has made an immeasurable contribution to the popularization of sevdah among young people, but also in the international context. I want this project to come to life in full capacity and I invite everyone to come and bring tourists,” he said.
Puharic also added that the emotion we express through sevdalinka is something special and deeply rooted in our identity. The Chairman of the Stari Grad Sarajevo Municipal Council, Seid Skaljic, stated that sevdalinka cannot be fully understood if you have not loved, because it carries an authentic emotion and story about life in these areas.
“We are glad that, as a local community, we can pass on part of that emotion and the former way of life to today’s citizens and tourists. Sevdalinka shows why people here are good and why guests keep coming back to us. The awards that Sarajevo has recently received are no coincidence. The Municipality of Stari Grad has the task of developing its environment, but also of promoting content that presents us as a true tourist destination,” said Skaljic, adding that what politics often fails to achieve, artists like Damir Imamoviccorrect and show the true face of BiH.
Tickets for the concerts can be purchased through the Karter.ba platform, as well as at the ticket office of Svrzo’s House, two hours before the concerts, which are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Ticket purchase at Svrzo’s House will be available only if tickets have not already been sold out online.
The project is supported by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Federation of BiH (FBiH), the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Canton Sarajevo (CS), the City of Sarajevo, the Municipality of Stari Grad, Mastercard, Klas, and the Sarajevo International Airport.
The Sarajevo Navigator Foundation is an organization that has been actively contributing to the promotion of Sarajevo and BiH for more than a decade through culture, tourism, and modern communication tools. The Foundation publishes the bilingual magazine Sarajevo Navigator, which serves as a guide for tourists and a promotional platform for cultural events in the capital. In addition, the Foundation has implemented numerous projects aimed at valorizing cultural heritage, strengthening the local art scene, and creating innovative cultural tourism products.
