SARAJEVO FEST 2025
PEACE
Would you go to war to fight on the front line?
Would you send your child to war to fight on the front line?
These are the two fundamental questions for anyone who believes that peace is not the right solution.
Thirty years of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the most horrific wartime suffering in Europe since World War II, is an achievement. It is an achievement often underestimated by the citizens of BiH and the region.
Instead of battles where, most often, young men were killed; instead of the expulsion of civilians, mostly women, children, and the elderly; instead of camps and rapes, mostly of young girls and women; instead of wounds, amputations, and disabilities; instead of the destruction of buildings and infrastructure; instead of hunger, lack of medicine, absence of electricity, running water, phones, communication, and transportation; instead of the deaths of civilians, instead of the killing of children — we in BiH have had 30 years of peace.
But is that enough? Is peace merely the absence of war, or is peace prosperity?
If we advocate for peace in Ukraine, are we defeatists? Does that make us pro-Russian figures who fail to recognize the danger from the East?
If we advocate for peace in Palestine, are we anti-Semites? If we advocate for peace in Israel, are we complicit in genocide?
Are we aware of other wars currently raging in the world?
Is the victory over Nazism and fascism in 1945 still relevant?
War is not a natural disaster, like an earthquake, a tsunami, or a hurricane. War is made by people. And people can stop it. Not tomorrow, not tonight — now.
War is not an inevitable catastrophe. It can be prevented. All conflicts can be resolved through dialogue.
Would you go to war to fight on the front line?
Would you send your child to war to fight on the front line?
Are you ready to die for your idea?
These questions define our present.
Sarajevo Fest 2025 will open these themes through artistic works, discussions, and workshops.
Haris Pašović
The photograph on the Sarajevo Fest 2025 poster was taken by Illia Larionov, a young Ukrainian photographer capturing images from the front lines in Ukraine. The photo features Jana Zalevska, a drone operator in the Ukrainian army, who was severely injured in a Russian attack. Jana is from Kherson and is a mother of a daughter.
This year, we are honored to create part of the program in collaboration with UNESCO, and another part in cooperation with the French Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the “European Dialogues” program. We are also collaborating with the Goethe-Institut in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The main partner for this year’s artistic forum is the Ministry of Culture of the Federation of BiH, with partial support from the Ministry of Culture of Sarajevo Canton, the City of Sarajevo, and the Tourist Board of Sarajevo Canton.