No time to say goodbye

A major European issue is the exportation of Roma, most recently from from France and also from Germany. This issue has come to Bosnia-Herzegovina as well, now that the situation in Kosovo has calmed down, Roma from Kosovo, who have lived in BH for over 10 years, are now being returned. It hits young people the hardest-- having to leave basically the only home they ever knew. Now they have Serbian passports and can come to visit, can even travel to European countries, but they have to finish school, find jobs and make a new life for themselves in Serbia. Some young people from our church have had to return to Serbia and a youth worker from Mostar wrote a song, recorded it, and made this music video with them...

Abras MEDIA

AbrasMEDIA, socially engaged media, is an independent youth media housed in OKC Abrasevic, with its own internet radio, TV show (in cooperation with local tv station RTV Mostar and the US embassy) and Youtube channel. Funders past and present include the Czech embassy in Sarajevo and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Click here to read articles from AbrasMEDIA translated into English

Mostar TV

Mo.StarT-V (MOstar.STrategies and Activities to Realize Training in Videojournalism) is a school of video journalism housed by OKC Abrasevic, led by Italian filmmaker Gianpaolo Rampini. The project is funded by Italian Region Friuli Venezia Giulia.

The first phase of the project has ended-- a two month video workshop (basic training in camera and editing). Now the 9 workshop participants (researchers, camermen, editors and distributors) need to complete the second phase of the project- making a short documentary about public spaces in Mostar.

Eventually the goal is to form an independent video production house.

Partizan il' domobran?

Mostar il' Sarajevo?

Writing on the Wall

What a difference (good) graffiti makes in a city, creates a feeling of true urbanism... I posted on the blog before anti-fascist graffiti from Novi Sad and take now a moment to share the newly graffiti'd Abras Media Radio container and graffiti from Turin, where we went in November for an exchange with Radio TRIP. There is also now wonderful anti-fa graffiti all over Mostar, but I don't have photos of it-- yet!

Art in Divided Cities

Below are two articles which I wrote for Art in Divided Cities (www.artindicities.org), an art production group housed in OKC Abrasevic. Their project proposes to research the concept of divided cities through the medium of various forms of art.







Derry / Londonderry


Pendleton's Underground City

Media Landscape

As confirmation on a higher level of the kind of pressure media is under, which we felt on a micro-level with the You Tube video about Dex---



BiH Media and Media Regulators Under Pressure

Sarajevo, 23 February 2010 – “The OSCE Mission to BiH is deeply concerned that political pressure on media outlets and agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the increase”, the OSCE warns in its report “BiH Media and Media Regulators Under Pressure”, released today.

The OSCE calls current developments in the media landscape “worrying” as they impact on the freedom of press and media regulators and the availability of quality information to BiH citizens. The report is addressed to the media and main political representatives and relevant institutions at the state and entity levels, as well as the international community.

It draws attention to a number of recent dismissals within media outlets that give the impression that the media remain vulnerable to political interference. The report also underlines that continuing disagreements on the workings of and appointments in the Communications Regulatory Agency are undermining its independence. It continues by emphasizing the lack of implementation of BiH’s state-of-the-art legislation in regulating the media. The OSCE is also concerned that reports of physical assaults on journalists are increasingly provoking little reaction, despite a rise in the number of such attacks.

Kre(A)ktiva

On February 14, I was part of a celebration of a certain holiday-- that is, the anniversary of the liberation of Mostar from fascism in WWII. We cleaned graffiti from a socialist monument on the Bulevar in the center of the city. This video is an interview with Dex who started an "anti-fa" group, along with footage from a work meeting (anti-fascist posters, t-shirts and graffiti) and then the cleaning action. Shot and edited by Lidija, a young volunteer in Abras Media.


[[ I deleted the video for Dex's safety... Some neo-fascists armed with bats were hunting for Dex at his school. Thankfully they didn't manage to get ahold of him. ]]

Mostar Metal Storm

Thanks to Robi, the current editor of AbrasMedia, a team of young people from both sides of Mostar has come together to create this community radio offering. Anyone who has an idea can come to OKC, receive some training and start broadcasting. Shows range from punk music and social issues, to heavy metal music, to readings of comic strips. A promotional event was held in Abrasevic, featuring young metal bands and a projection of the internet portal and radio site.

036 Crew

This summer I worked with a group of young rappers to film them performing the song that they wrote for the annual bridge-diving festival in Mostar. A friend kindly volunteered his time to give me advice and do color correction... Here is the finished product!

Hayd u Park!

Abrasevic was featured on Hayd u Park, a youth program of the Federal TV station, in December. This video features interviews with the Czech ambassador, Marko Tomas (OKC club manager), Robert Jandric (editor of Abras Radio), Dex (OKC volunteer) and.... ME! hehe.

One of the best things about the video is that it features summer footage of OKC, before the remodel of the facade and before the death of the dogs who lived in the Abrasevic courtyard. So it's like travelling back in time and looking toward the future at the same time! Great stuff.