{"id":12436,"date":"2026-01-07T09:47:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kultura-mostar.ba\/?p=12436"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:17:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T14:17:44","slug":"pregled-dogadaja-u-posljednjoj-godini-okc-abrasevic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kultura-mostar.ba\/en\/2026\/01\/07\/pregled-dogadaja-u-posljednjoj-godini-okc-abrasevic\/","title":{"rendered":"Overview of events in the last year - OKC Abra\u0161evi\u0107"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Abra\u0161evi\u0107 Youth Cultural Center, the legal and ideological successor of the Abra\u0161evi\u0107 Workers' Cultural and Artistic Society, founded in 1926, has been operating as the only independent youth and cultural space in Mostar for 22 years since its re-establishment. We continue to pursue our mission and vision in the belief that artistic creativity, independent culture, education, encounter, dialogue, and critical thought are the most important ferments of the future and a better society.<\/p>

In 2025, more than 120 events were held in Abra\u0161evi\u0107 \u2013 concerts, performances, theater and dance performances, public talks, workshops, book promotions, film screenings, exhibitions, listening rooms, as well as individual and group studio visits and informal creative gatherings. More than 4,000 people visited our space. Activities and events were covered by Abra\u0161Radio, our community media, through more than 900 articles, interviews and radio shows.<\/p>

Along with amateurism, volunteerism and community support, the production of the program was additionally strengthened by the launch of the Kosta Club - a platform through which we decided to make a grassroots contribution to the goals defined by the long-awaited The Youth Strategy of the City of Mostar 2024\u20132028<\/em>, which, although adopted, is unfortunately still awaiting implementation. (Research by the Youth Council of the Federation of BiH from 2025 shows that less than 0.01 % of public funds are allocated for youth in this entity, and our application this year for inclusion in the budget of the City of Mostar was rejected with the explanation that new organizations are not accepted.)<\/p>

The goal of Club Kosta is to strengthen the youth scene through spatial, organizational and technical capacities, along with continuous cultural, artistic and educational content in OKC Abra\u0161evi\u0107. In the desire to develop an organic community and increase the engagement and participation of young people in the design and creation of cultural-artistic and socially engaged activities and content, we have opened an invitation for membership to young people from Mostar and the surrounding area.<\/p>

In 2026, Abra\u0161evi\u0107 celebrates its first great 100 years, so there are even more reasons for optimism and joy. We continue on with the hope of being more attentive to the needs of young people and independent culture in Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also ready for challenges. We wish everyone a more peaceful, tolerant and prosperous new year, and we bid farewell to the old with a review of the various events and activities behind us.<\/p>

January \u2013 March 2025.<\/h2>

The year was opened by a two-week program Dance Lab<\/em> with Argentinian dancer Elise Cairns Elu. Through introduction games, body release exercises and basic tango steps, our space has become a small laboratory of movement and joint learning, but also a refuge from the city's winter stagnation.<\/p>

First edition Yard radio<\/em> gathered us around the poems of the young Kosta Abra\u0161evi\u0107, in an attempt to reconstruct his mysterious literary journey and trace. The guests that evening, and throughout the entire two weeks, were high school graduates and teachers from the Global Gymnasiet school in Stockholm. Their school assignment was to research and write down stories from Mostar, and some of the students, with special interest, decided to write about Abra\u0161evi\u0107.<\/p>

In addition to their investigative curiosity and numerous mature questions, they have also enriched us with a selection of contemporary literature from the humanities and social sciences. The holdings of the OKC Abra\u0161evi\u0107 Library have been further expanded by the donation of books on literary theory, philosophy and art, especially the collection of cult editions of Nolit, by Mostar professor Ilija Kegelj.<\/p>

Abra\u0161Radio returned to the airwaves in January. Every last Friday of the month, from 5 to 6 p.m., you can listen to it on BHR1. 2. name for freedom<\/em>, a new series of the former weekly Another name for freedom<\/em>.<\/p>

February 14th \u2013 the Day of Liberation from Fascism and the forgotten birthday of Mostar \u2013 had a commemorative note marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Along with laying a wreath and saluting the Liberators and the Builder, we visited a neglected masterpiece of our architectural, artistic and philosophical heritage \u2013 the Bogdan Bogdanovi\u0107 Partisan Memorial Cemetery.<\/p>

In February, there was dancing to Breakbeat Session<\/em>, strong bass and an energetic atmosphere directed by DJ Nisko. The dance program was continued by Lena and Sabiha, but the beginning Spring Movement Lab<\/em> It had to be cancelled due to a family loss of one of the hosts. We have kept the program in the plans for the future.<\/p>

March was marked by a concert by noise rock\/folk sensation Neme\u010dek (Zagreb \/ Slavonski Brod), organized by Balkan eksces. The trio performed the second part of the material Damned<\/em>, offering a glimpse into the cold dystopian world of kraut rock and Balkan psychedelic heritage.<\/p>

On International Women's Day, after participating in the March 8 protest walk When the women of Mostar were silent<\/em>, in the yard of Abra\u0161evi\u0107, a bazaar of exchange of women's things was held, with an offer of women's literature available in the Library of OKC Abra\u0161evi\u0107. The evening was closed with entertainment by DJ Ena Bandanna, pop, synthpop and electro-feminist anthems.<\/p>

Ekofem Festival (Freedom Front<\/em>, Tuzla) and the program Pledge of continuity<\/em> brought together a network of BiH activists, collaborators and friends of Husein Oru\u010devi\u0107. In memory of his intellectual, activist and artistic legacy, the idea was conceived of starting a foundation bearing his name, through whose work the mission of education and building bridges between people would continue.<\/p>

Another March party was organized by 3 Moons (Moon cubed)<\/em> with a Woodstock '99 theme, while DJ Nisk initiated an evening of free jamming for young musicians. The concert hall was filled with Sarajevo bands Shizif and Samo Srce, with local support from the band Limunati, organized by the young collective Dolma, as well as Moca and Biznismeni and Fuzzlija, also from Sarajevo, organized by Balkan eksces. In addition to the regular monthly events of the United World College in Mostar, this year's Mostar Half Marathon program also had its concert finale in our large hall.<\/p>

At the end of March, a focus group of Japanese researchers and professors Yuji Uesugi, Mari Katayanagi, Dahlia Simangan and Xiru Zhao from the University of Waseda and the University of Hiroshima was held, who on that occasion spoke in Abra\u0161evi\u0107 with representatives of Mostar's non-governmental organizations about the Mostar Agreement and local elections.<\/p>

April \u2013 June 2025.<\/h2>

In collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the April program opened with the Spanish Cinematography Cycle with five feature films: Olive<\/em> (d. Ic\u00edar Bolla\u00edn), Sad stories<\/em> (dir. Javier Fesser), Piglet<\/em> (d. Carlota Pereda), Thieves steal<\/em> (dir. Daniel Calparsoro) and Everyone knows<\/em> (dir. Asghar Farhadi).<\/p>

Earth Day was marked with the Green Coast program and yard greening, along with a practical and creative workshop with elementary and high school students, curious beginners, and urban gardening enthusiasts. The workshop was led by Muhamed Garib (Ekodizajn, NE\u0160TO VI\u0160E), followed by an eco-quiz with prizes and a socializing session with soda, table tennis, music, and comics for the youngest.<\/p>

As part of the Critical Ecology Evening, led by the book Growing Up: A Glossary for a New Era<\/em> Giacomo D'Alisa, Federico Demarie and Giorgos Kallis, Ronald Panza spoke about the struggles for river conservation and other activist activities in our country, reflecting on the consequences of the Upper Horizons project. In the second part of the evening, a Canadian documentary was shown Anthropocene: The Human Epoch<\/em> (2018.).<\/p>

A new cycle began in April Abra\u0161Workshops<\/em>, an educational program dedicated to media literacy, radio journalism and work with sound.<\/p>

In addition to group and individual study visits, Abra\u0161evi\u0107 took his guests on walks-lectures using Map of invisible bridges<\/em>. Among the locations, the Partisan Memorial Cemetery stands out, which, still neglected, we try to use as a space for dialogue and an open-air classroom. Abra\u0161evi\u0107 also spoke about the symbolism of that place and the philosophy of its architect Bogdan Bogdanovi\u0107 to the audience gathered around the German organization AK Yutopia at the Conne Island Center in Leipzig. Motivated by that meeting, the partners from Leipzig also collected a solidarity donation for Abra\u0161evi\u0107 during online lectures.<\/p>

In the past months, Abra\u0161evi\u0107 spoke with students from the University of Birmingham, the University of Manchester and the University of Utah, led by Professor Shannon Peterson, as well as with students from the University of North Carolina, led by Professor Robert Jenkins. It is also worth mentioning the visit of young women from communities affected by conflicts in Georgia, who are part of the session Feminist leadership and action in fragile public spaces<\/em>, organized by UN Women, shared their experiences of peacebuilding with local activists, followed by a visit from the Berlin agency Ex Oriente Lux Reisen and cooperation with the organization balkanbiro from Berlin, with whom we have been discussing the history of Abra\u0161evi\u0107 and the legacy of anti-fascism in Mostar for years.<\/p>

A selection of trap and rap fans could be heard in the auditoriums - young David, CRNOG and Paris Stone, there was dancing to Brazilian phonk and hardstyle directed by DJ Aeon, and the team of the student organization BEST with visiting students from abroad also found a place to party in Abra\u0161evi\u0107.<\/p>

The concert series in May marked the return of the legends - the Italian-French duo Putan Club, who, in addition to Abra\u0161evi\u0107, has a long-standing acquaintance with Mostar, Nedim \u010ci\u0161i\u0107, a veteran of Mostar's electro and experimental sound, from the cult band Vuneny, who opened this dancing queer evening under the name MIDI Brigade.<\/p>

Organized by the Balkan eksces platform, in May the Zagreb trio The Hahas and the Blablas, a garage new wave \/ post-synth-punk band, performed at Abra\u0161, along with the Mostar bands Beatnici and Lopo\u010d.<\/p>

First time<\/em> was the name of the concert double number that OKC Abra\u0161evi\u0107 realized in cooperation with the young promoter collective Dolma. For the first time in Abra\u0161, the Belgrade singer-songwriter Zhiva and her band, the pop-punk quartet BezxSluha from Zenica and two new bands from Mostar - Splesh and Jazav\u010dar - performed.<\/p>

At the end of May, one of the most important artists of the Slovenian noise scene, Neven M. Agalma, returned to us. He presented the project Kohleberg Artwork (K2)<\/em> \u2013 aesthetic-sound and video archive work dedicated to the sound and heritage of the mining region of Zasavje. The film of the same name was shown with archival recordings from the mines of Hrastnik, Trbovlje and Velenje, and the evening was rounded off with an intense ambient-industrial noise performance.<\/p>

On June 20th, within the team, still in disbelief, we marked one year since we lost our principal, teacher and friend Husein Oru\u010devi\u0107. He would have turned 56 at the beginning of the same month.<\/p>

(\u2026 the quoted text of Husein Oru\u010devi\u0107 was left in its entirety and without interventions<\/strong> \u2026)<\/p>

Husein Oru\u010devi\u0107 (June 1, 1969 \u2013 June 20, 2024)<\/p>

With the aim of promoting skateboarding as a sport, culture and form of free expression, the informal collective Mostar United Skateboarding Team (MUST) operates in Mostar, which in June organized the first celebration of the World Skateboarding Day - Go Skateboarding Day. The Abra\u0161evi\u0107 Hall was turned into an improvised skate-park with DIY ramps, a grind-box, a rail and a device for the highest ollie, and the whole day of skateboarding ended with the performances of the Mostar bands Crustalno jasno, Inat and Beatnici.<\/p>

Zagreb lesbian trio, post-rock \/ indie \/ shoegaze band \u017dEN, performed in Abra\u0161evi\u0107 after almost ten years. In the meantime, they have played hundreds of concerts across Europe and recorded several albums, the latest of which is, Cycle<\/em>, was the focus this evening.<\/p>

July \u2013 September 2025.<\/h2>

The musical journey of the Spanish band Evo\u00e8h arrived in Mostar in July as part of the filming of a documentary film Searching for a Balkan Blues<\/em> by Italian author Lorenzo Melegari. The duo Ariana Barrab\u00e9s and Jes\u00fas Olivares in the Abra\u0161evi\u0107 courtyard presented an evening filled with refined sensibility and the richness of the Mediterranean sound heritage.<\/p>

At the 23rd Mostar Blues and Rock Festival, the home colors were represented by Acoustic Stories (Dra\u017een Majerski) and Mostar blues veterans Bulevar. The Croatian group Drugi na\u010din followed, while on the second day, Slovenian musician Julijan Eri\u010d performed with the band Midnight Lightnin', blues guitarist Tonky de la Pe\u00f1a with the Tonky Blues Band, and the festival was rounded off by American blues guitarist and singer of Brazilian roots Artur Menezes.<\/p>

At the beginning of August, in an intimate semi-acoustic atmosphere, the young Sarajevo singer-songwriter Emi Trnka gave her debut concert in Abra\u0161evi\u0107, accompanied by her father and producer Muhamed Muki Trnka. This was followed by the performance of the German alt\/grunge band Vertigo, for which the local forces opened the concert - the alt rock\/fusion band Splesh (the best band of this year's Gitariade at the Pavarotti Music Center) and the comeback performance of the Macedonian supergroup Lufthansa. The evening of the Mostar sound was brought by musician Miran Dabi\u0107 with his new solo project Horse Called Dolar and the indie rock band Letter From a Stoic.<\/p>

A ritualistic performance by the Italian noise duo Annalized_Noiose, consisting of Sardinian artist Annalisa Pascai Saiu and drummer, improviser and noisecian Emilio Bern\u00e8, marked another noisy evening. The program opened with a more subtle found footage session by Wassily Bosch, a Moscow-based multidisciplinary artist and musician with a Parisian address.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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