Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina encompasses the country's ancient heritage, architecture, science, literature, visual arts, music, cinema, sports and cuisine.
The rock-carving by an artist found in Badanj Cave near the city of Stolac dates back to Paleolithic times (c. 12,000 and 16,000 BCE).
[2] During the Bronze Age, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina was occupied by Illyrian tribes such as the Japods in Bihać and the Daors in Daorson, near Stolac.
[6][7] Immediately following the Second World War, Yugoslavia's brief association with the Eastern Bloc ushered in a short period of socialist realism, which came to an abrupt end with the 1948 Tito–Stalin Split.
In the following years, modernist architecture came to symbolize the nation's break from the USSR (a notion that later diminished with growing acceptability of modernism in the Eastern Bloc).
[14][15] Notable poets include Antun Branko Šimić, Aleksa Šantić, Jovan Dučić and Mak Dizdar.
[17] Contemporary writers include Semezdin Mehmedinović, Aleksandar Hemon, Miljenko Jergović, Abdulah Sidran, Nedžad Ibrišimović, and Marko Tomaš.
The visual arts in Bosnia and Herzegovina were always evolving and ranged from the original medieval tombstones (stećak) to paintings in Kotromanić court.
[19] Prominent artists in the post-World War II period include Virgilije Nevjestić, Bekir Misirlić, Ljubo Lah, Meho Sefić, Franjo Likar, Mersad Berber, Ibrahim Ljubović, Dževad Hozo, Affan Ramić, Safet Zec, Ismar Mujezinović, and Mehmed Zaimović.
Notable Bosnian directors, screenwriters and producers are Zlatko Topčić, Mirza Idrizović, Aida Begić, Ivica Matić, Danis Tanović, Hajrudin Krvavac, Ademir Kenović, Benjamin Filipović, Ahmed Imamović, Pjer Žalica, Jasmila Žbanić, Dino Mustafić and Srđan Vuletić.
[21][22] The most important international sporting event in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the hosting of the 1984 Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo from the 8th to 19 February 1984.
The former Yugoslav national football team included a number of Bosnian players, such as Josip Katalinski, Dušan Bajević, Miroslav Blažević, Ivica Osim, Safet Sušić, and Mirsad Fazlagić.
Bosnian national teams have struggled to field the best eligible team as many players born in Bosnia and Herzegovina choose to play for other countries for reasons of ethnic identification and because of the higher salaries offered by other teams (for example: Mario Stanić and Mile Mitić were both born in Bosnia but play for Croatia and Serbia respectively; other internationally famous players from Bosnia and Herzegovina who have made similar choices include Zoran Savić, Vladimir Radmanović, Zoran Planinić, Aleksandar Nikolić and Savo Milošević).
The Yugoslav national basketball team, medal-winners in every world championship from 1963 through 1990, included Bosnian players such as Dražen Dalipagić and Mirza Delibašić.
The Bosnian chess team has been Champion of Yugoslavia seven times, in addition to winning four European championships: 1994 in Lyon, 1999 in Bugojno, 2000 in Neum, and 2001 in Kalitea.
Some local specialties are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilaf, goulash, ajvar and an extensive range of Eastern sweets.
