Academy of Fine Arts, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzogovina, 25-29 May 2009
Organised by Kulturanti and sponsored by The British Council
All Inclusive Sarajevo was initiated by designers Natasa Perkovic and Josip Lovrenovic, founders of Kulturanti, a non-profit association based in Sarajevo whose aim is to promote creative collaborations between groups or individuals who do not routinely have the chance to collaborate. This five-day design workshop was awarded a grant under the Creative Collaborations project fund of the British Council.
Four independent designers - Bernadette Deddens (studyoportable), Gero Grundmann (studio bec), Matt Harrison (Studiohead) and Freddie Yauner, all Royal College of Art alumni - led teams of designers from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia.
Working with local organisations who employ hearing-impaired people, the aim was to create a range of designer goods that utilise existing technical skills and production capabilities and provide an income stream for the future.
Bernadette Deddens worked with seamstresses from the Association of the Deaf of Canton Sarajevo; Freddie Yauner with metalworkers from Librag; Gero Grundmann with the reprographic workshop of Pismolik; and Matthew Harrison with Damir Husejnovic, a leather craftsman backed by a network of 20 textile craftspeople from the Center for Self-Reliance.
The workshop culminated in presentations of the prototypes in an exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts, followed by a reception at the British Ambassador's residence.
British Ambassador Michael Tatham said that he spends most of his time trying to find ways of promoting regular collaboration between politicians, officials and the judiciary in the troubled region but 'you in the creative fields are setting a real example for politicians'.
An exhibition of the products from this project was held at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo from 21-28 November and is travelling to Belgrade and Zagreb in 2010.
