The one photo of my hometown of Sarajevo that I took. Usually, I’m much more prolific but this time around I just wanted to live there…without the camera around my neck.  A friend of mine asked me why I loved this city so much, and I was surprised by the question and had no poetic answer. I still don’t. Maybe because the city is still so real, it’s not cookie-cutter pre-packaged. It’s raw. It’s unorganized. It’s unapologetic. It has problems, and maybe to a designer such as myself these challenges present themselves as opportunities, as genuine, honest design-soul-bread that’s ready to be cracked. I once heard that designers will never be happy because the world is so ugly, constantly throwing in our face endless problems to solve—but that’s exactly what makes me happy—the challenge of making the bad, good. I want to prove to myself and others that things can be better, that there is progress, that with the combination of right attitude, skills and most of all empathy for ourselves and others, we can improve bit by bit. Call me an idealist, go ahead, I’ll own that title proudly.  As I leave Sarajevo for now, I leave optimistic and inspired. December couldn’t come fast enough.  Until we meet again…
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The one photo of my hometown of Sarajevo that I took. Usually, I’m much more prolific but this time around I just wanted to live there…without the camera around my neck. 

A friend of mine asked me why I loved this city so much, and I was surprised by the question and had no poetic answer. I still don’t. Maybe because the city is still so real, it’s not cookie-cutter pre-packaged. It’s raw. It’s unorganized. It’s unapologetic. It has problems, and maybe to a designer such as myself these challenges present themselves as opportunities, as genuine, honest design-soul-bread that’s ready to be cracked.

I once heard that designers will never be happy because the world is so ugly, constantly throwing in our face endless problems to solve—but that’s exactly what makes me happy—the challenge of making the bad, good. I want to prove to myself and others that things can be better, that there is progress, that with the combination of right attitude, skills and most of all empathy for ourselves and others, we can improve bit by bit. Call me an idealist, go ahead, I’ll own that title proudly. 

As I leave Sarajevo for now, I leave optimistic and inspired. December couldn’t come fast enough. 

Until we meet again…

Unfortunately, there’s not much available online about Tijuana Tango—but it was jolly good ol’ soulful times. From a tidbit that I could find via events pages:

“Tijuana Tango”?! Tijuana or Tango? Tequila or Rumba? What is this about? It’s quite simple. The musical project “Tijuana Tango” brings together different musicians, from different countries,  with different musical backgrounds. A wide variety of musical styles and songs come together, from sevdah or flamenco, passing by tarantelle or rumba, up to cumbia or fado. Old songs and new songs. “Tijuana Tango” is a musical invitation for people to think about borders and differences. Or so called borders and differences…

  • Jelena Milušić, Bosnia Herzegovina/Germany (vocals) 
  • Nathan Daems, Belgium (saxophone, clarinet)
  • Filip Vandebril, Belgium (double bass)
  • Sebastian Wiesner, Germany (percussion), and 
  • Thomas Morzewski, France (piano, trumpet).

Brangelina descends upon Sarajevo and brings peace and stability to the Balkans. :) Kidding aside, this was huge publicity for the city and the region, causing a massive mayhem at the SFF’s red carpet, as evident in the photographs above. An epic moment in pop-culture history of the city and a definite guilty pleasure indulgent moment for me. I managed to snag a super blurry image of Mr. Pitt and with that made my inner 14-year-old’s dream come true. If you’re wondering as to why the uber-couple was in Sarajevo, read this.

 Jovan Divjak, a Bosnian general during the ‘92-‘95 Bosnian war, came back home after spending nearly five months detained in Austria on Serbia’s arrest warrant. Austrian courts denied Serbia’s request for extradition stating “lack of evidence and the inability to guarantee a fair trial” in Serbia. It was a big day in Sarajevo. For more information about this latest Balkan drama, feel free to read this and this. 
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 Jovan Divjak, a Bosnian general during the ‘92-‘95 Bosnian war, came back home after spending nearly five months detained in Austria on Serbia’s arrest warrant. Austrian courts denied Serbia’s request for extradition stating “lack of evidence and the inability to guarantee a fair trial” in Serbia. It was a big day in Sarajevo. For more information about this latest Balkan drama, feel free to read this and this. 

Pips, Chips & Videoclips is a band from Zagreb, Croatia who I must admit I haven’t followed as closely as some other bands from the region. I caught the tail-end of their concert at Sloga in Sarajevo, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their performance. Check it out for yourself in the clip above.

Audio InFunktion at Kriterion in Sarajevo. Probably one of the best sets I’ve heard in a while—my wee video doesn’t do it justice. If I could or knew how, I’d book him all over the States, he’s top notch. Here’s a little bio snippet Google spat out, to give a bit of a background:

Diverse, meditative, rhythmic elements merge in the work of Sarajevo’s Nesho (aka Audio Infunktion). The producer, DJ and instrumentalist’s roster of musical heroes betrays a well-balanced palette - everyone from African icons Mulatu Astatke and Fela Kuti to jazznicks Marlena Shaw, Miles Davis, and Quincy Jones to modern-day groove merchants Red Astaire, Alice Russell and Madlib. During the war in Bosnia, Nesho says somewhat understatedly that things were “pretty sticky”. Confined to his home, he reacted to the surrounding madness by picking up a guitar and starting to play. “I learned to play because of war,” he observes. “Ironic, isn’t it?” Actually, less ironic than inspirational. Percussive and soulful, Nesho’s notes remain vibrant with the rhythm of life.

Images from this and the previous set are from the Etno Begovo Selo, “an authentic Bosnian Village”, located some 40km (25mi.) from Sarajevo. It is newly built and still in construction, aiming to capture the old look and feel of Bosnia’s cultural past. Visitors can stay in the little cabins and indulge in freshly made local meals, daily. In fact, eating is “required” if you wish to visit the Village. I can vouch for their ustipci, they were heavenly. 

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