Beautifully written, with a good eye for detail and a writerly sense of the poetic. The photos are stunning too and nicely illustrate the city's architectural diversity and unique urban feel. As a Sarajevan, I am moved by the author's thoughtful and loving depiction of the city and very impressed with the depth and detail of his observations. I especially appreciate the emphasis on the vibrant art/culture scene--it's one of the few positive aspects of our post-war reality but, as shown in this piece, absolutely inspiring.
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I just returned from Sarajevo a couple of weeks ago, and I too was struck by the glimmers of optimism I witnessed during my wanderings of the city streets. Despite the wet, dark weather I experienced and the ubiquitous presence of bullet-ridden buildings around me, I came away from the city with a sense of having been in a urban area that is on the upswing. There were tourists gathered around the resin "roses," students laughing in the pastry shops, and an abundance of public art. When traveling I often judge a city by what the street artists have to "say" about it. While returning to my hotel one afternoon, after having walked along "sniper alley" and become (predictably) depressed, I peered down an alley and saw a huge mural of the city of Sarajevo. It depicted a bright and colorful sky, radiant mountains, and buildings that looked fresh, clean, and welcoming. To be honest, it looked nothing like what I would have painted if asked to portray my interpretation of the city on that gray day. I'm not sure if the mural illustrated the artist's impression of the city in the present or his or her vision for the future. It doesn't matter, really - it made a clear positive statement, and had quite on impact on me. To be able to hold that image of the city after having been through the siege - that's resilience.
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I read. I ponderd. I cried and smiled. I grieved, but at the last I hope. What a wonderful bit of writing. Thank you Reif and thank you NYT.
Hope. The Sarajevo collection. I have been traveling over the past few months to Sarajevo and bringing back fashions designed and manufactured by a family from this wonderful city. During my visits, with many of the locals, often the past war is mentioned during daily casual conversation. Understandably, its embedded in their psyche. One of the biggest atrocities of war is it's ability to suppress hope in anyone who witnesses the needless loss. However, like when a forrest is leveled by a fire, tiny saplings silently and ever so slowly start to appear piercing their way up through the ashes and seeming barren soil, steadily growing each day, upwards towards the sky. Gazing across a hillside of these saplings, one is inspired. Something "good can come from the bad", even when it requires the intervening humans touch.
Made from Italian fabrics from the top producers, such as Prada, Max Mara, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo, you will be amazed at the quality sewn by these creative and talented designers. Please read the article I have posted and enjoy. It is wonderfully written. The clothes are stylish and fashionable made by people who live in a country often left behind in our minds as standing still in time. Sarajevo is fertile place, so much possibility. You will be inspired, when seeing these beautiful clothes.
Made from Italian fabrics from the top producers, such as Prada, Max Mara, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo, you will be amazed at the quality sewn by these creative and talented designers. Please read the article I have posted and enjoy. It is wonderfully written. The clothes are stylish and fashionable made by people who live in a country often left behind in our minds as standing still in time. Sarajevo is fertile place, so much possibility. You will be inspired, when seeing these beautiful clothes.
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Mr Smith, this is so wonderful! As a young Bosnian student, I went to William and Mary during the war and I so remember how much your shop is beloved by many. I was just in Williamsburg 2 summers ago after nearly 20 years and made sure to stop by Binns... and got a pair of sandals.
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Thanks Natasa. I am happy to read your comments. Thomas Smith, Co-CEO, Binns of Williamsburg
One might wish to note that, beautiful and on the whole welcoming as it is, Sarajevo is neither tolerant of nor a safe destination for LGBT tourists.
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Hi Bill - I had also wondered why the article's author failed to mention this aspect, when everything else was described so beautifully? I am not sure that it is fatal to be fatal as an LGBT tourist, but it is certainly a huge issue for NYT to omit, in my opinion.
As a LOCAL part of that population who witnessed the Salafist attacks during one and only attempt to organise the gay pride event a few years ago, I can say it IS a safe destination - so long as you don't march around with rainbow flags. There are monthly gay parties in the "FIS", a local club, and gay friendly cafes (e.g. Pink Houdiny) and pubs, as well as sauna frequented by gays (Hotel Central). Not sure if such information could be found in tourist guides such as Lonely Planet?
I first came to Sarajevo in July 1996 a few months after the Dayton Accord was signed, arriving by bus, which was full of displaced Sarajevans who were returning to their city after the war. As we drove through the streets toward the bus station, I heard sobs and gasps as people took in the devastation of their city. That evening, I stayed with Bosnian friends in their high-rise, and when fireworks went off from the July 4th celebrations from the American base, my friends quickly turned out their lights and ran away from the windows before we realized it was not gun-fire. I returned to Sarajevo again in 2002 to work for Office of the High Representative tasked with implementing the peace accord, and the political and governing situation was a still a mess.
The caption to one of your photos really hit me -- that Sarajevo now belongs to a new generation of people who were born after the war and know the city to be a safe place. Sarajevo is a beautiful, magical multicultural place, and I too have fallen under its spell. It's wonderful to see that it is rising again. I hope they can help rebuild and unite it.
The caption to one of your photos really hit me -- that Sarajevo now belongs to a new generation of people who were born after the war and know the city to be a safe place. Sarajevo is a beautiful, magical multicultural place, and I too have fallen under its spell. It's wonderful to see that it is rising again. I hope they can help rebuild and unite it.
I first came to Sarajevo in July 1996 a few months after the Dayton Accord was signed, arriving by bus, which was full of displaced Sarajevans who were returning to their city after the war. As we drove through the streets toward the bus station, I heard sobs and gasps as people took in the devastation of their city. That evening, I stayed with Bosnian friends in their high-rise, and when fireworks went off from the July 4th celebrations from the American base, my friends quickly turned out their lights and ran away from the windows before we realized what it was. I returned to Sarajevo again in 2002 to work for Office of the High Representative tasked with implementing the peace accord and political and governing situation was still a mess.
The caption to one of your photos really hit me -- that Sarajevo now belongs to a new generation of people who were born after the war and know the city to be a safe place. Sarajevo is a beautiful, magical multicultural place, and too have fallen under its spell. It's wonderful to see that it is rising again. I hope they can help rebuild and unite it.
The caption to one of your photos really hit me -- that Sarajevo now belongs to a new generation of people who were born after the war and know the city to be a safe place. Sarajevo is a beautiful, magical multicultural place, and too have fallen under its spell. It's wonderful to see that it is rising again. I hope they can help rebuild and unite it.
I was one among many Belgrade woman who had their big love, in Sarajevo precisely. We loved the way they made us laugh. No woman can resist the charm of Bosnians. And no man.
Sarajevo is as warm as your text about it. You can feel Love between every line, it's clear you have became local. Your text inspires and encourages. Thank you!
Sarajevo is as warm as your text about it. You can feel Love between every line, it's clear you have became local. Your text inspires and encourages. Thank you!
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Thanks for the nice comment ... We are very proud because we have you for neighbors...
Nice article. I am very glad that they restored their beautiful library. By the way it is Moorish Revival style, not "faux Moorish". That seems a bit dismissive and outdated, like calling our main library on Fifth Avenue "Faux Classical".
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I had a diplomatic assignment to Sarajevo in the 1980s that was arguably the most interesting of my entire Foreign Service career. Many things I will never forget about that posting: the wonderful Bosnian friends I made, the natural beauty of the mountains surrounding the city, winters filled with fog and the distinct smell of coal smoke. But there was the also the Socialist bureaucracy and mindset, the code-worded hints here and there of ethnic tensions under the surface calm, and the economic stagnation that frustrated Bosnians' aspirations for a better life.
It is indeed a beautiful city -- although as my boss from Belgrade put it after his first visit, "everything beautiful in Sarajevo was ether put here by God or built before 1945" -- and I wish it and its people well as they continue to rebuild their lives and their society following the horrors of the civil war.
Oh, and by the way, the canary yellow Holiday Inn, whatever its aesthetic merit or lack thereof, did add a very welcome splash of color on the drab gray winter landscape (and there's an even more eye-boggling purple version of it up north in Ljubljana).
It is indeed a beautiful city -- although as my boss from Belgrade put it after his first visit, "everything beautiful in Sarajevo was ether put here by God or built before 1945" -- and I wish it and its people well as they continue to rebuild their lives and their society following the horrors of the civil war.
Oh, and by the way, the canary yellow Holiday Inn, whatever its aesthetic merit or lack thereof, did add a very welcome splash of color on the drab gray winter landscape (and there's an even more eye-boggling purple version of it up north in Ljubljana).
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EU & USA together need to do more in order to make this country function properly. The Dayton Peace Agreement is just that, a peace agreement, it's not a good foundation for a country. Imagine North Korea & South Korea joining in one country forced by a peace agreement that gives them a lot of autonomy but no big obligations towards the central government. People would love to live together but the authorities won't let them.
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So many memories...One in particular: walking through Sarajevo in 1996 with a young man who had come with us to a summer camp for refugee children in Trpanj. His English so polished. We talked poetry (he loved--and quoted--Walt Whitman). We arrived at the library,went inside and stood amid the charred ruins. After hearing so many war stories of death and loss, rape and cold and starvation, it was seeing the burned stories of a culture that finally undid me...the fallen, twisted, empty card catalogues and my young guide saying: 'All the killing was terrible...but they tried to kill our culture, and that is the most terrible...' Art saves lives.
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A beautiful, friendly and fascinating city. Can't wait to go back.
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Beautiful photographs. Sarajevo is a nice city, but what makes it special is its people.
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We deployed into northern Bosnia during the Christmas holiday of 1995..just a month or so after Dayton. The horrific damage included entire villages burned and blown up by Serb militias (detached from the former Yugoslav Army), mass graves where upwards of 3-4,000 people were buried..perhaps some alive.
The country was devastated. In the early days of post Dayton, Sarajevo was a mass of damaged building with hug holes in them from the relentless shelling of Serb tanks which surrounded the entire town.
It was something out of a WWII movie..but, it was not a movie. In Sarajevo, almost all former green areas where now makeshift cemeteries with both markers as far as one could see down the main avenue.
I have been back a number of time to Bosnia..not in the north..but, in Sarajevo.
True, the city has rebounded with great vigor and energy. But, the political system remains dysfunctional..un-employment in the country remains extremely high forcing tens of thousands into Europe one way or another.
Keep in mind, Sarajevo was the site of the 1984 Olympics. Yet just seven years later and with the UN in full glare over 200,000 innocent people were killed/murdered. How could this be many asked! The Europeans waited a full four years and it was not until the US became involved after Srebenecia in August of 1995 (7000 men and boys slaughtered).
The world will never learn..
Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda..
The country was devastated. In the early days of post Dayton, Sarajevo was a mass of damaged building with hug holes in them from the relentless shelling of Serb tanks which surrounded the entire town.
It was something out of a WWII movie..but, it was not a movie. In Sarajevo, almost all former green areas where now makeshift cemeteries with both markers as far as one could see down the main avenue.
I have been back a number of time to Bosnia..not in the north..but, in Sarajevo.
True, the city has rebounded with great vigor and energy. But, the political system remains dysfunctional..un-employment in the country remains extremely high forcing tens of thousands into Europe one way or another.
Keep in mind, Sarajevo was the site of the 1984 Olympics. Yet just seven years later and with the UN in full glare over 200,000 innocent people were killed/murdered. How could this be many asked! The Europeans waited a full four years and it was not until the US became involved after Srebenecia in August of 1995 (7000 men and boys slaughtered).
The world will never learn..
Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda..
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Indeed. What no one is saying, in the comments or in the article, is that one side was largely at fault, one side engaged in almost all of the atrocities, one side had a vision for an ethnically, racially, religiously pure country and was willing to kill everyone who did not fit into it. The Serbs were responsible for 90% of the war crimes and to this day, the fast majority of them have done no reflection and no penance.
1
I walked those streets and drank strong Bosnian coffee in the cafes in 2004, when I was fortunate enough to live in the city for five months. Although I had lived elsewhere in the Balkans, no city was as spellbinding as Sarajevo. I am delighted to hear that it seems to be healthy, but am disappointed that the still-divided country of Bosnia has never been able to heal. Interestingly, my first visit to Sarajevo was almost exactly a half century earlier, when I was impressed by the peaceful multicultural nature of it.
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I love Sarajevo.
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Me, too. My favorite city in the Balkans.
I too fell in love with Sarajevo when I first visited three years ago. You might say it was love at first sight. But I could not shake the sadness I came away with from my visit to the city. Of course my deeply moving visit to a gallery showing of photographs memorializing the genocidal massacre of Bosnians by Serbs in Srebrenica did not help matters. Even hearing or reading the city's name still evokes a little sadness. Yet I'm so very happy I visited Sarajevo, including the sorrow-inducing gallery. For I found that beneath all the suffering and destruction that older, long-term residents of Sarajevo had endured, a sense of strength, perseverance and depth of the human spirit that I have rarely seen in other countries, especially my own.
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Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”
- Bertolt Brecht
This quote best describes my experience of growing up as the child of two writers in wartime Sarajevo. While snipers shot and grenades fell like raindrops, there were groups of Sarajevans who were dedicated to preserving culture and maybe more importantly, a sense of normality in the city. At a time when one's safety was merely a matter of luck, Sarajevo saw plays, concerts, exhibits and brilliant dark humour such as the TRIO collective's famous poster series. I may have only been seven at the time, but very early on I was lucky enough to witness the "Soul of Sarajevo" and that it stretched far beyond its war ravaged infrastructure.