Kupusović once said: Theatre is a glass bell where man surrenders to the magic of art

The news of the passing of prominent BiH director and, in the opinion of many, unrepeatable Sulejman Kupusović, surprised all cultural workers in BiH and across the region. Recently, director Kupusović had not appeared in the media, but his statements and views on various social and political issues will be remembered. He gave an interview to the BiH news agency Patria on the occasion of March 27, World Theatre Day. At that time, he said that there had been a cultural awakening of citizens in BiH.

- I think it's not just theatre, but art in general. I think books are read more than before, music is listened to more because politicians have poisoned us to such an extent with the past, the future, and the present, that one of the few places, like under a glass bell, where a person can escape from themselves, escape from everyday life, and surrender to the magic of art – Kupusović told NAP at the time.

Commenting on the political situation, Kupusović said that "it will take a long time for our people to get their heads out of their asses and change something."

This year is also significant for BiH and Sarajevo due to several important jubilees. The 30th anniversary of the Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo and the International Festival "Sarajevo Winter" was marked, the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I (Sarajevo Assassination), and the 20th Sarajevo Film Festival. Even then, as a visionary, he foresaw the course these events would take.

- I think these jubilees will unfortunately be turned into a completely accidental event, just like the commemoration of the Olympics was, due to weather conditions or lack of funds, or politicians will seize the opportunity and turn the centenary of the assassination into new trenches, new bickering, new falsifications of history, and they will be least interested in what BiH as a state lost by the very fact that it became the site of an unfortunate assassination and how much it costs it in the long run – Kupusović said.

He was of the opinion that instead of BiH being part of Europe now, like Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, "we are still stuck in the same circle as the last Balkan dregs, which include Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Albania."

One of the last plays he directed was "Lary Tompson" Show Must Go On, based on the text by Dušan Kovačević.

- The play talks about how in this time when everything is against art, when electricity is literally turned off in cultural institutions, when there are no basic means for work, when museums are closed and galleries are shut down, the artistic spirit is obliged, out of defiance, as Mak Dizdar would say, out of defiance of a dream, to perform the play at all costs and prove that we must not allow the darkness and monolithic thinking that prevails among our politicians to take over. The mission of art and theatre is to constantly draw attention to the fact that man, in his one life, is obliged to be dignified and not allow himself to be degraded to the level of a louse – concludes Kupusović.