Byrd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can
> understand the desperate need for pride and
> respect of the people of Bosnia (which translates
> into economic and social power in the world)

Hmmm... It's always difficult to find the right tone for these things, to avoid sounding patronizing. Nerves are very uncovered here in Bosnia.

> I wish that an uproar in the academic press could
> change the direction of this whole sorry charade.

No way.

I have no illusions whatsoever on this point.

Not for the general public.

I said it many times over, the issue is emotional.

More international-academic uproar would just make the believers feel more frustrated and angry: everybody is against us, the world is jalous because we finally have something of value.

No joke, this is the reality here. I heard it come out of the mouth of people I would not suspect of this type of mindset (meaning, educated, and not extremist)

Again, I'm obviously not saying that we do not need those tons more information, quite the contrary, but I'm breaking my head on how this can be presented to have a chance of being effective.

One thing Stultitia said many times, and she's absolutely right: BiH scientists must be the protagonists in this process.

If there has to be international support, it must go to them, also to mend the terrible damage made to the whole conception of culture in this country by this story - the lynch of knowledge and people with knowledge.

But also, they need support in how to create a relationship with the general public. Which is not there, otherwise, obviously, things would have not gone that way.

If you look at the website of the Zemaljksi Muzej, there is hardly any info on it. The whole Okuciste archeologic project (the Neolithic site near Visoko), just to make an example, is not mentioned anywhere; but neither is any specific project. Now, making a few web pages more is not a big effort, even if there's no money to fix leaking ceilings - actually, a more lively promotion of the Museum could improve their negotial position towards both autorities and possible donors. There is much more info on the site of the Commission for national monuments, also known as "Annex 8" (of the Dayton agreement). But I doubt how many souls in Bosnia even know of its existance. There is not really any info circulating on these cultural institutions an their activities, nothing at mass level which can create affection in the public towards them. After over twenty years as a freelance journalist, I could add that in any case it is a desperate battle for journalists to find a bit of space for culture with their editors, and not only in Bosnia (a nice, juicy saga, even if totally invented, gets to them much more easily... the whole "pyramid" story is an encyclopedia in modern media mentality...). So, to be fair to the people, there are some reasons why they are not motivated to defend institutions which they hardly know and feel are distant from them.

Once I expanded on this point too, institutions in general are seen as inefficient and corrupt. Unluckily, this is too often true.

So a strategy to change this state of affairs is a pretty complicated matter.

If the people were to stand by their own intelligentsia, the intelligentsia should also find a way to be on the side of the people. This is another famous old story here...

Sorry for making a long story of it, but although I am some 300 km from Visoko (and that can be a huge distance in Bosnia, which is made by a galaxy of little local worlds, most often living separate lives), the implications of this story, and the underlying elements, are part of my everyday life.

I'll give you a practical example. Have a look at this beauty here (nowhere near Visoko, to be clear):

[photo.emeraldvalley.net]

If local people living under this wonder wanted an archeological project, here they can be busy for decades... The medieval fortress is built (when? not clear, but easily a thousand years ago), as most of them were, on a pre-existing pre-roman illyric site, of which some traces can still be found. But even just clearing the jungle which covers the site will take time.

A few weeks ago, a whole bus of people from the village below this site went to salivate on the "pyramid" in Visoko. Did they ever take the twenty minute walk to their own castle? In an organized, group fashion? Local community initiative, whatsoever?

No way. Most of them do not even have an idea what it is, when it was built, nor anything about its long history. It never ever occurred to them that it can have any relationship to the tourist development of the area.

Get the idea?

There should be a project beinning soon to do something about this fortress and a similar one. For the fabulous sum of.... 5000 Eur.

Not long ago, I met an acquaintance who is an assistant minister of culture at the level of our canton. We were discussing just this project. I nearly fainted: the guy mentioned "sports terrains" (for the other castle, closer to town). Tennis courts or soccer fields, something like that.

I gasped: can't you find another place to put sports facilities, not on an archeologic site?

The logics: but then people wouldn't be interested in coming near.

Which is true, alas (leaving all commentaries out on the logics of the sports facilities... I don't think I need to add anything here). Most of the public here has little or no interest at all for old stones.

I hoped, at the beginning of the "pyramid saga", that perhaps a bit of positivity could come out of it, in the shape of some renewed interest for archeologic and historic heritage.

Pretty naive, unluckily things took a completely different turn.

Ok, enough. As you see, it's a rather dense soup...

The only practical idea which has come to my mind recently is more photos of similar geologic phenomena around the world - perhaps the local bloggers could take up on the idea, they have done something already, but perhaps we need a flood of images - to counteract at least the "nature cannot do this" story.

Honestly, the layers of "tiles" on the Pljesevica hill can be misleading to whom has no specific geologic knowledge. The conglomerate on Visocica did not impress me while I was standing on it, pretty obvious story, but I was puzzled by the photos from the other hill. Personally, I am thankful to Dr. Schoch for having calmly put in a few technical words on the issue.

A nice photo-website full of pics of similar tiles from all over the planet, plain photos with names of locations and NO commentaries, would perhaps be of help.

I'd put a link to it, with the title "Nature cannot do this!", in every post, so it gets large circulation. And see if it helps a little.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2006 04:40AM by Hermione.