The Italian Embassy in Sarajevo, together with the relevant Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), has organised the second conference “A Vision Becomes Reality”, dedicated to the project of the “Ars Aevi” Museum of Contemporary Art. The conference was held in Sarajevo at the prestigious Vijećnica building, seat of the city municipality. The initiative, which was also attended by the Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina Karić and the Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton Nihad Uk, saw the presentation of the museum’s executive design study, a fundamental step for the future construction of the building, financed by AICS and created by the “NonStop” architects’ studio in close coordination with Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
Italian Ambassador Marco Di Ruzza wished to point out the strong idealism that inspired Italy to continue to believe in the Ars Aevi project even when it seemed to be heading nowhere. “Ars Aevi is not only a great opportunity to further strengthen cultural relations between our two countries”, said Di Ruzza, “but also an effective tool to further reconciliation processes in the Country through the unifying power of art and culture. We hope that Ars Aevi will become an open, dynamic and inclusive museum space, as well as the symbol of a cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina on the path towards European integration, an objective for which Italy is and wishes to continue to be a constant point of reference”.
Designed by architect Renzo Piano, in his capacity as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, the Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art project was intended to exhibit works of art from the collection bearing the same name, donated to Sarajevo during the war by prestigious international artists (including Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jannis Kounellis, Marina Abramovic, Joseph Kosuth, Maja Bajevic and many others) in an impressive show of solidarity aimed at supporting the city under siege and supporting its civil, ethical and cultural rebirth. The Ars Aevi collection (which means “art of the era” in Latin and is a partial anagram of “Sarajevo”) currently features around 150 artworks, most of which are temporarily on display in the rooms of the same Vijećnica building.
On the occasion of the meeting, a multi-donor trust fund was established by UNESCO with the aim of facilitating the collection of the resources necessary for the construction of the museum and the maintenance of the artworks in the collection. As stated by UNESCO’s representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Siniša Šešum, the financial support provided by the European Union, the Sarajevo Canton, and by Italy, through AICS, already covers about 75% of total costs.
