The exhibition “Tears and Prayer” by the academic painter Safet Zec was set up in the City Hall in Sarajevo to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica. The exhibition contains parts from the works “Tears”, “Prayer”, “Exodus” and “Embraces”.
Academic painter Safet Zec says that his works are a contribution to the memory of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, and he is satisfied if they leave a mark on the observer.
– This is a skill, to evoke emotions. If anyone shivers when they look at these works, it’s a big deal – says Zec.
The exhibition in the Town Hall is dedicated not only to the genocide in Srebrenica, but also as a reminder to stop the unnecessary wars that are being waged around the world.
– My art or the art I live, I want it to be a warning, but also a witness. If my hand can convey anything, it is deep human compassion and the need to hug each other, hug our neighbor and pray together for those who are no longer there and those who are left to remember, emphasized Zec.
Adem Mehmedović from Srebrenica came to the exhibition with his wife and five-year-old son. He is happy for the opportunity to talk about Srebrenica through art, especially the greatest of artists.
At the opening of the exhibition, he shared his experiences with the audience. He says that in July 1995 he was eight years old. Together with his sister and mother, he was deported from Potočari, they spent several years in Zavidovići. He returned to Srebrenica in 2014, where he still lives today with his family.
Merima Musić Spahić, spokeswoman for Safet Zeca, says that it is an honor to collaborate with that artist. In a statement to journalists, she emphasized his kindness, consistency, discipline and simplicity, and routines from which he does not deviate.
– Everyone who cooperates with him, we are blessed to help Safet Zec – she said.
The Minister of Culture and Sports of Sarajevo Canton, Kenan Magoda, emphasized at the opening that at that exhibition, through the canvases and brushstrokes of Safet Zec, ‘the pain of a nation, but also the strength of its dignity, opens before us.’
– That’s why tonight we’re not only talking about art, we’re also talking about responsibility and dignity. Culture is memory and resistance to forgetting – he said.
Artist Miki Trifunov opened tonight’s program with verses by Augustin Tino Ujević, and ended with the song ‘Bosna’ by Nedžad Ibrišimović.
Postcards with motifs from the works of Safet Zeca are also available at the entrance to the Town Hall, and the proceeds collected at that exhibition are intended, as scholarships, for the education of children and young people living in Srebrenica, Federalna writes.
