Centar Municipality: 150,000 KM for the survival of cultural institutions

The largest and most significant museum institution in BiH, the National Museum, has been closed for almost three years. The Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH sent a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of supporting cultural institutions. The Memorandum was sent to the federal ministries of education and science, culture and sport, the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Sarajevo Canton, the City of Sarajevo, and the municipalities of Centar, Stari Grad, Novo Sarajevo, Novi Grad, and Ilidža, reports the Patria News Agency.

 

The Mayor of Centar Municipality, Dževad Bećirević, has prepared a positive proposal for the next session of the Centar Municipal Council to accept the Memorandum of Understanding, according to which the Centar Municipality would allocate 150,000 marks annually for the financing of cultural institutions of importance to BiH for the period 2016 to 2018.

-Regarding the current issue of the struggle for the preservation of cultural institutions of importance to BiH, which involves a large number of BiH citizens from all walks of life, starting with culture, science, art... and in a situation where a vigil has been introduced at the National Museum of BiH, in order to draw attention once again to the situation in which the Museum has been closed to visitors for a long time, which represents a national shame, the Centar Municipality is ready to contribute to the preservation, development, and operation of these institutions, Bećirević emphasized.

The other six institutions should not be neglected either, according to Mayor Bećirević, because each of them represents and preserves national treasures.

-All of them are institutions that have extraordinary potential for the development of cultural missions, education, and science, as well as for the presentation and promotion of our country and its cultural and historical heritage. We in the Centar Municipality believe that their work is of crucial importance for the development of tourism as well, said Bećirević.

The extent to which the Municipality is firmly committed to helping cultural institutions survive is also shown by the fact that Mayor Bećirević visited the National Museum last year in March, just one month after the citizen protests in which the Centar Municipality building was set on fire and destroyed. He presented a donation of 20,000 marks to the museum's director, Prof. Dr. Adnan Busuladžić, in the museum, which was closed to the public and visitors, in order to take measures to protect the immense cultural treasure from decay and disappearance.

On that occasion, Mayor Bećirević appealed to all institutions to finally start systematically resolving the issue of the status of the National Museum of BiH and the other six cultural institutions, it was announced from the Centar Municipality.