National Museum of BiH: We were bypassed in the presentation of the Sarajevo Haggadah at Capitol Hill

(Patria) - The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that it was not included or informed about the presentation of the Sarajevo Haggadah, which is being organized today, March 24, at Capitol Hill in Washington on the occasion of the Passover holiday.

The Museum points out that the organizers did not request any materials or consultations, which they consider an inappropriate practice of bypassing an institution that has owned the manuscript for 132 years.

They emphasize that the Museum's experts continuously care for one of the most valuable medieval Jewish manuscripts, which is also included in the UNESCO "Memory of the World" list, and that despite years of financial uncertainty, they have managed to ensure high standards of protection and promotion.

The Museum expresses its expectation that BiH officials in Washington will raise the issue of systemic financing of this institution, which, as they state, has been on the brink of existence for decades, despite the global significance of the Sarajevo Haggadah.

"We are fully convinced that the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, as well as the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, will use the mentioned opportunity to inform the representatives of the American administration about the reasons, as well as their personal and institutional, above all successful efforts to resolve the issue of financing the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina 30 years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement.

We are equally sure that the representatives of the American administration will listen with interest, understanding, and sympathy to the arguments justifying the fact that the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, valued at "700,000,000 USD", known as "our Mona Lisa", is still located in a state institution which, along with its employees, has been kept on the brink of existence and outside of any certain financing for decades.

If nothing else, we believe that they will at least be successful in continuing to support the museum's "self-sustainability" by encouraging a new wave of tourists who will come to see the manuscript and buy a facsimile, since they themselves cannot," the National Museum announced.