Book of the Bridge

Book of the Bridge

Excerpt from the introduction

„The Book of the Bridge" came into being during the workshops „Neimar - the Bridge Builder" organized in Mostar and Sejny. The workshops conducted with the young people living in the multicultural communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Great Britain and Po-land, constituted a practical part of the "Bosnian Triptych" project, dedicated to the problem of the crisis of multicultural society in Europe. In Europe we hear more and more about the crisis of the multicultural society. Faced by new waves of refugees and emigrants, a close encounter with Islam and other cultures, rebirth of old national - or religious-based animosities, we are witnessing a rebirth of attitudes of hostility to what is different, hostile to the sharing of common values and living together in a culturally diversified society.

Are we witnessing a decline of the agora in modern, multicultural democratic societies? In the besieged Sarajevo the object of hateful attacks of the ideologists of "blood purity" was charshija, marketplace, a place of assemblies and exchange, a cultural palimpsest, located in the immediate vicinity of a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, and a synagogue, the realm of Sarajlja - a citizen of a multicultur-al city. Charshija coexisted well with the surrounding mahalas, Latin, Muslim, Orthodox, Jewish, Gypsy neighborhoods... It thrived on their separateness and preservation of distinctive traditions. At the same time it constituted an irreplaceable link for their coexistence, cre-ating a culture of dialogue, which influenced the ethos of everyday life.

As Europeans today we pride ourselves on cultural diversity and strive to preserve separate identities. Yet in all that struggle haven't we, imperceptibly, lost our agora and culture.

Introduction in Bosnian

„Knjiga Mosta" nastala je tokom radionica pod nazivom "Neimar - graditelj mostova" koje su se odvijale u Mostaru i Sejnima. Radioničarski rad sa mladima iz multikulturnih sredina Bosne i Hercegovine, Velike Britanije i Poljske, činio je praktični deo "Bosanskog Triptiha", posvećenog problemu krize multikulturnog društva u Evropi.

U Evropi se sve česće govori o krizi multikulturnog društva. U obliku novih talasa izbeglica i emigranata, bliskog dodira sa islamom i drugim kulturama, otvaranja starih rana na nacionalnoj ili verskoj osnovi, svedoci smo ponovnog radjanja stavova neprijateljskih prema Drugome, nespremosti da se dele zajedničke vrednosti i zajednički život u kulturno raznolikom društvu.