The Founding Assembly of the Bosnian Cultural Center Association, headquartered in Prijedor, was held in Prijedor.
The assembly was attended by 300 delegates and guests from the country and abroad. The founders of the association are, in accordance with the Constitution and law, legal entities from Bosnia and Herzegovina that are engaged in the promotion and preservation of culture and art and operate in the area of 7 cities and municipalities of the wider region of the Una and Sana river basins in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Founding Assembly was also attended by high-ranking guests of honor – Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Ulrike Hartmann, Deputy Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ozgul Şahin, representatives of the Embassy of the United States of America in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honorary Consul General of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Republic of Turkey Ahmet Kemal Baysak, Honorary Consul of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Republic of Italy Diego Moscheni, Director of the Public Institution Bosnian Cultural Center of the Sarajevo Canton Edin Urjan Kukakvica, President of the Prijedor City Assembly Ajdin Mešić and representatives of the Prijedor city administration, Mayors of the municipalities of Sanski Most and Ključ Faris Hasanbegović and Nedžad Zukanović, representatives of the municipalities of Cazin and Bosanska Krupa, as well as many other representatives of cultural, political, economic and public life of the wider region.
The delegates of the Founding Assembly voted to adopt the founding acts and statutes, and the bodies of the association were appointed, as well as 14 honorary members (”ambassadors for culture”) from Bosnia and Herzegovina and 9 countries – Switzerland, the United States of America, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey, Italy, Austria and Croatia. The leadership of the association consists of Nataša Marić (Assembly), Sanel Jakupović (Board of Directors) and Vedran Šupuković (Supervisory Board). Alma Semanić from Prijedor was elected Secretary General of the Association.
The key goals of the association are aimed at preserving, promoting and developing the overall culture of all peoples, national minorities, citizens and foreign residents living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in
in accordance with the law and international standards established in the field of culture and art. In this sense, this cultural center is conceived as a platform and resource center for the promotion of all existing cultural identities that exist in the wider region of the Una and Sana river basins, the entire country and globally, as well as a training ground for the internationalization of domestic cultural identities of this region on the world cultural scene, without public or hidden intention to strategically, tactically or operationally “appropriate”, “change”, “abolish”, “impose”, “introduce”, “unitize” or “challenge” in any way any individual or social group’s cultural identities.
The initiative was launched on January 27, 2019, with the formalization of the initiative decisions of March 2, 2019, adopted by 21 organizations from the country and the diaspora with over 2,000 registered members. Registration in the Register of Associations and Foundations will be carried out by the competent Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
