Photo Monography

TRADITIONAL CLOTHING AND JEWELRY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

One of most important publishing projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is at present in preparation is the Photo Monography: Traditional clothing and jewelry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For centuries, in Bosnia and Herzegovina lived the members of „The Book”, Muslims, Christians and Jews and all of them brought their customs. However, as much as they were particular, some similarity can be noticed. The purest forms of those traditions, first of all, respect for a man, his moral and the land on which he lives. This togetherness is mainly the gratitude to God for the blessings that He gave to Bosnian rivers, mountains, woods and good climate, so that a large part of customs of those nations is directed towards the ethos, ie. to human homeland, in material and in spiritual meaning.

All of this, gave an idea to two persons, Jasmin Fazlagić, one of best photographers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to priest, father Zvonko Martić to make a Photo Monography on the theme of tradition, customs, etno stories and legends of Bosnian people. To a large extent, those customs are related to religious belonging. Thus, Muslim holidays in Bosnia, like Eid day or month of Ramadan, carry some specific elements, which perhaps, can’t be found with other Islamic nations, or some holidays and customs of Catholics and members of Orthodox creed are specific and belong only to Bosnian climate. The same is related to Jews.

On the other hand, all these customs have its particular aesthetic note, as they are merged with traditional shapes of architecture and the old traditional clothing. Bosnian - Muslim culture is outstanding for its elitizm, customs of aristocracy and for urban surroundings. Croatian - Catholic and Serbian - Orthodox cultures have their own specific sides. The way that Jasmin Fazlagić approached this task was through one narrative form, or photographic story.

The rest of the article you can read in the magazine.