It is a kind of manifesto created with the intention of peace. Polish artist NeSpoon brought life to an abandoned library building in Mostar. In her characteristic way, she used lace, with which she surrounded the walls of the building
The story of creating the installation in Mostar had its beginning two years ago, when NeSpoon visited Bosnia and Herzegovina to paint a mural in Mostar
As always, my design was inspired by a local lace pattern that someone local had brought me from home. Every person I spoke to afterwards, regardless of nationality or religion, recognised the pattern as a familiar, well-known one. “My mother had one like that on the TV”, or “my grandmother used to make exactly like that”, I heard it over and over again,” recalls NeSpoon
As it turned out, this simple floral motif culturally unites all the people living in multinational and multi-religious Bosnia and Herzegovina. The artist found a common linguistic code among local people, regardless of where they came from, what religion they are or how they identify themselves. They all associated the motif with the family home and the ‘good old days’, where everyone lived in peace and good neighbourliness
After creating the mural, the artist came up with the idea of preparing an installation to symbolise this deep intercultural bond between different nationalities
During her next stay in Mostar in September 2023, local lace makers gave the artist dozens of laces, which she wove into a new installation. The work was created in a symbolic place, the university library building, which was destroyed during the conflict in the 1990s. More than a hundred thousand books were burned here
My installation has revitalised the place, people have started to visit it again,” adds NeSpoon
The artist created the work with the intention of peace, understanding and a successful, shared future for the people who live in this multinational country full of tensions. Its realisation was made possible by the invitation to the twelfth edition of the Mostar Street Arts Festival, curated by Marina Dapić and her team
source: NeSpoon
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