OKC Abrašević from Mostar, were founded from the need to provide a space that will offer citizens, especially young people, the opportunity to work and creatively express themselves, a place for cultural education, broad social discussion, analysis and criticism of the current society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as global society. Through the years of its recognizable work, Abrašević, was founded from the struggle of the young people of Mostar for a roof over their heads, for a house whose foundations will be creative and intellectual freedom, equality, diversity, social responsibility and solidarity.
Author: Đorđe Krajišnik
Actions that make changes
– Our goal is the search for alternative visions and models of organizing the world and society. We will continue to look for alternative solutions to the existing political, economic and cultural reality, which is often contrary to human needs and aspirations, destroys human relations and breaks social cohesion. We consider our extremely important task to be directly involved in and supporting actions related to alternative – democratic solutions, actions that change the existing unsustainable state of consciousness and fundamentally oppose ghettoization, nationalism, reactionary conservative ideas and radical fascist, political and racist conceptions.
Promoting such attitudes and creating an alternative environment is the result of faith in a society that should be made up of conscious and active individuals who know how to lead their lives, not people who leave decisions about their life issues to others who are happy to decide on their behalf. – It depends on us and our engagement, civic movements and actions, all of that creates our future, world will would like to live in and who will manage it, representatives of OKC Abrašević stated.
Vladimir Ćorić from OKC Abrašević said in an interview for Snaga lokalnog that in the last two years Abrašević was forced to change its concept of work, especially during the pandemic, especially activities of concert and events organization. They are now focusing more on working with their users, projects and fundraising campaigns.
– When we start with concerts, we hope that we will be able to work with the bands we want, even if only 20 people came. We used to make compromises, various tributes. During the pandemic, we focused on a clean-up. We are rejuvenating the Center, bringing in new young people, those who really want to get involved. Within the club space, we managed to arrange a small library with contemporary editions, so we managed to create a pleasant working atmosphere. You can come and drink coffee, but we are now focused on work and creation. Workshops are held in the Center, this is a place for meetings, developing of ideas, and we try to emphasize this approach… We currently have several groups inside the Center, we have DJs, bands, stand up scene, amateur theater Triumph, Street Arts Fest. We also cooperate with Mostar Rock School, United World College. We are here to support them, with providing space, intellectually, advise them, help them and write projects. As was the case with the satirical trio Onomatobleja, we helped them write the project, they got it, and so far, they have made 3 plays and visited more than 40 places throughout BiH. We work for and will continue to work for others. First of all, we want to train people, open opportunities for them to do something useful, but also help them to get paid for their work, Ćorić said.
The initiative Project Academy is not an event that lasts two or three days, but an initiative that will be implemented for several months.
– We have a more complex approach, conceptually and theoretically. We meet, provide detailed assistance where we explain how to contact the donor, what kind of funds the donors provide, how to accurately describe the goals and other important segments within the project. Unfortunately, people guard their positions, they do not want to give up anything, while we want to encourage healthy competition within the Center. This year, we also have a new director, and we will accept new members in the Assembly in the fall, our interviewee explains.
He emphasizes that OKC Abrašević does strategic planning every three years.
– We are now working on sustainability, on strengthening fundraising, on the development of the so-called community building, attracting new members. We are also working to support informal groups, and plans to renovate the building. We recently published a call for cooperation with initiatives in the field of culture, music, art, architecture, political science, ecology, science and education. The call was primarily intended for individuals or groups of young people who are struggling with the need for their own space, and whose activities would fit appropriately into the work of OKC Abrašević. We received over 20 applications, and we were able to provide support and space for a total of 10 initiatives. It is necessary to make people feel closer to solidarity relations within the community, in order for it to be stronger, more dynamic and more active. Our long-term strategic goal is for culture to be present in the central Mostar zone. The goal is to approach that central zone, not to divide it. Strategically, ideologically and architecturally, we want to influence the space, says Ćorić for Snaga lokalnog.
When asked if they talked about it with someone from the City Administration, Ćorić said that their so far they did not have any partnership activities.
– We have a situation where people think that Abrašević is a public institution, financed by the City, and that is far from the truth. We do not receive any funds from the City for our work. At the same time, we are expected to meet the needs of young people and citizens, and on the other hand we have no support from the City. Abrašević’s roots start in 1926, as the Workers’ Art Society named after Kosta Abrašević. It was created by workers who came from factories after work to hang out, sing, perform. The first Mostar jazz group was created in Abrašević, the first projector was brought to Abrašević, the theater ensemble founded by the National Theater Mostar originated from Abrašević. There is a huge tradition and Abrašević was very popular until the war. Then, in 2003, there was a project to rebuild Abrašević by Mostar’s youth groups. During this period, these were ruins, young people gathered and with the help of other organizations from Spain, Austria and France returned this space to its purpose. The City and the ruling parties did not take it seriously, saying that “these are young alternatives, artists who will not do anything serious.” They were surprised when the citizens of Mostar mobilized and demanded that the area has to be returned to Abrašević, because the City had some other ideas for this area. And that is symbolic, that battle for the return of public space to the citizens is very important. We are the only youth center that owns its own space, it was also a great thing, but also a huge burden and responsibility.
Activism today
Speaking about whether the decline of initiatives of formal and informal activist and other related groups is felt in the city on the Neretva, the interviewee points out that the City feels its decline, but also that some new people interested in this type of socio-cultural engagement appear.
– For example, in the context of the subcultures we supported, in the period from 2008 to 2016, compared to today, the change is obvious. After 2016 everything starts to mix, the moment of activism through the subculture is lost. There is a problem of young people leaving, trust in institutions has been lost, trust in organizations and civil society has been lost. Something else is needed now. In the period from 2003 to 2010, it was interesting for us to see groups coming to us from all parts of the city, and now that is a normal thing. Today, it is important to attract people who are progressive, creative and responsible. Through our work, we want to attract and empower young people to, in addition to their existing inherited identities, work on identities that they create themselves. By this we mean that someone can become a poet, artist, writer, programmer, activist, entrepreneur through work on himself/herself, and that this becomes his or her primary identity. We want to achieve this by designing a space, which through intellectual and ideological support can give everyone the opportunity to work on themselves. We provide space for rehearsals, movie premieres, workshops, meetings, humanitarian actions… When we closed the Center during the pandemic, people came and vandalized the space, wrote graffiti. But we accept criticism at our own expense, we are a social experiment, but we do not allow space and opportunity for fascist messages and ideas. No one is morally superior, you should always have an influx of new ideas, but also be ready for criticism, Ćorić emphasizes.
