Bosanske Lutke

One package of Bosnian Dolls contains:

Four dolls dressed in national costumes  (Mara - bosnian ortodox costume, Emina - bosnian muslim  costume, Ana - bosnian catholic, Hana -bosnian jewish costume).

Inside package is a CD with songs and colorfull book..

Project goal is to educate about peace and tolerance between all nationalities in BiH.

Article from DOLLS WORLD magazine

Magazine For Doll Lovers

Strana 1

Strana 2

HANA opens her big dark eyes and looks out the window, which reaches to the ceiling of her little room. The sun has already come out and is peeking through the branches of the cherry blossoms, which reaches her windowpane. One side of the window is already open, and Hana catches a reflection of herself in its glassy surface. She looks at herself as she tosses her long black hair. Her friends, Emina, Ana and Mara always tell her how pretty her hair is, but Hana doesn't think much of it...It is just hair, after all. She smiles at her mirror-self, and starts to hum a melody that her Grandmother used to sing to her in Spanish, the language of her ancestors. It is a Sephardic song called 'Cici bunici' or 'Ten fingers', and it is the most beautiful melody Hana has ever heard.The words are strange, yet familiar in a way that Hana cannot explain. Something about the song makes her heart overflow with images of the world she knew to exist, but which she, herself has never visited. She also knows how to sing Bosnian love songs-'sevdalinke'. Hana can sing and dance for hours on end ? or at least until her friends visit. Ana, Emina and Mara would often stop by to talk, laugh, and play. They almost always want Hana to tell the story of her ancestors? keys; a story which they all know by now, but still love to hear Hana tell. Hana's ancestors, Jews, were forced to leave Spain a long time ago. As they were leaving their homes behind, they all took their keys with them, hoping to return one day. They eventually gave up that dream as they started to build their new homes by the banks of the rivers Drina, Miljacka and Neretva. But, they still kept the keys, so that they could always remember where they came from... Hana is happy that they chose to build their new homes by such pretty rivers in Bosnia. She is also happy because her friends shared a different past, and yet, they all lived side by side and are able now to tell each other different and exciting stories about their own ancestors. They each knew different games, which they could teach each other, and this was a lot more fun. ''Can you imagine if we all shared the same past and if we all knew the same games'', asks Hana. ''Then, we wouldn't have so many stories to tell each other, and, so many games to teach each other. In this way, there are four more times the stories to be told, and, four more times the games to be played'', Ana would say. Mara, Emina and Hana all agreed. Four of them enjoy to play games and sing songs that came from their rich cultural background. One of Hana's favorite past-times is looking through the pages of storybooks. Her favorite book of all is called 'Hagada'. It is the most colorful of all the books in her father's study, and the pictures look magical. Hana can often be seen turning the pages and looking at the images of people, animals, and plants. omeone drew them really nicely ? but they must have spent a long time coloring! Her ancestors on their way brought this book to Sarajevo from Spain. Of course, the book in her father's study is only a copy of original ?Hagada? which is today kept at a Sarajevo Museum. It is much too precious to be kept in Hana?s father?s study. Other people must have a chance to look at the book also, because there is only one book and many people who wish to see it. Hana?s father promised to take her to the Museum one day so she could see the book in all of its ancient glory. Sometimes the sound of the bells from the Church and the Cathedral mix with the sound of chanting that is heard from the Mosque and the Synagogue. If you happen to be walking by, you will have a hard time knowing where the sound was coming from. It is all mixed up! But, should you happen to walk by when only the church bells can be heard, or the chanting alone, it is the most soothing of the sounds. Hana and her mother often take the time to visit the Synagogue in the old part of Sarajevo called Bascarsija. The streets in Bascarsija are made of cobble-stone and they look the same as they did five hundred years ago. That is why Bascarsija is called 'the old part of town'. The Synagogue is right across from the Mosque, which is right across from the Cathedral, which is right across from the Church.During the popular Jewish religious holiday Pesah, Hana's friends fills her home. They loved all stories that Hana,s father was telling them. In the evening of the Pesah, Hana and her family climb atop a hill, which overlooks all of Sarajevo. They visit the old Jewish cemetery and leave flowers in remembrance of the past and an honoring of Hana's ancestors. Looking down at Sarajevo, whose thousands of street lights glow in the dark, like stars in the sky, Hana would turn to her friends and say: ''Look at how pretty Sarajevo is at night. It looks like a star-lit sky. If you close your eyes you can still see it glow. All of them agree that Sarajevo looks glorious when hundreds of mosques lit lights on its munaras for the islamic holy month Ramadan. Then, for the Christmas, when all streets are filled with nice things and happy faces, when the bells from Cathedral are inviting us for love. Our town is also beautiful on Easter day, when a lot of people visit old Ortodox Church, which is located next to Mara's brother's school. And they all want to see Sarajevo glow. They laugh as only best friends can laugh with each other. They knew that the love they feel for each other is what keeps Sarajevo glowing even after they had close their eyes. They know that they will do all they can to keep the glow in their hearts burning forever.

Slikovnica

EMINA was just an ordinary girl from Mostar. Every morning she would wake up happily before sunrise and look to the new day with her deep green eyes. Emina could often be seen sitting in the shade of a jasmine tree, smiling. It was believed that she could speak to the flowers. It was as if she was blessed with a gift of finding beauty in all of the world's corners. Many would wonder whether it was because of Emina that the flowers smelled so the neighboring boys would often follow Emina as she made her way to the water-well. They all were too shy to approach her but would instead write her poetry and sing her love songs. All would, however, keep their feelings deep inside for the fear that she might learn their secret and end her regular walks to the jasmine tree, the water-well, or her front gate. One could only hear their hearts as they beat frantically. They all knew that Emina belonged in a different world, one that should not be disturbed. One poet was known to have fallen under the spell of her powerful beauty, which made him lose all sense of reason. He would mix-up day and night as though they were one and the same. Every night he would sit by the Neretva river and write long rhymes about his feelings for Emina. Nobody, however, could tell what secrets lived inside Emina. She could dream what and however she wanted to dream. One day Emina wanted to dream that she was flying high above Mostar city. And, she did. The night after, she dreamt that instead of the stars lighting up the evening sky, it was little jasmine flowers, which lit up the sky. In her dreams she would roam all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her girlfriends Ana, Mara and Hana, were never quite sure whether Emina really did visit all those places she would tell them about with such passion or if they were just dreams. Emina would not tell them. They would not ask. They all found joy in her stories and would listen carefully as words flowed from Emina's. There is a big bridge in small town Visegrad, which was built several centuries ago by a Turkish architect Sinan Pasa Sokolovic. Under the bridge flows an even bigger river the Drina. Above the river hangs an even bigger sky.. "Emina would begin one of her many stories. "A young woman lives next to the bridge. She is believed to be a fairy, living with angels. She offered me some water from the river and when I drank it, the water tasted like no water I had ever tasted before. I drank until I could not drink any more and felt as I never felt before"...They would all listen to her and once again they would visit all those places together. I made a lot of friends in Sarajevo's Bascarsija. We gathered around and sang many songs. We sang songs of Bajezidagic, Mejlij, Jewish Sephardic songs, and folk songs of Serb and Croat origin. The birds were curious as to how we could sing just as nicely as they could. People walked by and stopped to look at the birds and us. Before this time, I had only seen such beautiful birds on the embroidery of my mother's clothes. We also heard magically mixed voices of chanting from the Beg's mosque, bells from the Cathedral and the Old Orthodox Church. My cusan told me a legend about that old Church and why one of the bridges in Sarajevo is called a Latin bridge. "The next day she would tell them about the small town of Tesanj, which is situated in Central Bosnia. "There is an ancient fortress and an old tower there. Every night, a dragon comes to the tower, and every morning, before he sets out for the town, the dragon mysteriously disappears. Nobody knows why. Emina also climbed the clock tower in Foca. When she reached the top and looked down, she saw valleys and orchards as far as her eye could see. Two rivers meet there, and where they meet, it looks as though they are the hands of two sisters. There was a marriage in the town of Travnik. I had never seen such unusual wedding guests. They were dressed in wonderfully colorful national dresses with embroidery, like Bosnian people wore long ago. My relatives live there. They told me that the girl who was getting married set the town on fire. Not a fire which makes houses burn, but a fire which lights up the hearts of those who are in love.." Emina told them. S he was also in Banja Luka That town is really very beautiful. In the old part of the city, she saw Ferhadija mosque and went to swim in the Vrbas river. She promised to take her friends there to visit relatives of Ana, Mara's grandmother and her aunt Behija. But her nicest travels were to the small town of Gradacac. "The sky was so full of birds that I wished I was a bird too, so I could fly away with them" continued Emina. My granny told me that our lives are stories... to be lived and shared. She said that it is good to tell stories about the beautiful things in the world- the world becomes even more beautiful then. The world is what you want it to be, whatever you let your eyes see, your ears hear, your hands touch and your heart feel...Emina's girlfriends did not dare interrupt Emina and her stories anymore. They were just as happy to listen to her, as she was to tell them her stories. Next day, she would continue her stories. She described for them a small town in Herzegovina, Stolac, known for its old castles and beautifully positioned houses. The River Bregava flows near by and Emina wishes all the time to wash her face in it. It is believed that if the girl wash her face in that river before her marriage, her life will be all happiness. Have you ever been to Doboj city and explored its big fortress? It completely covers the top of a hill. I wanted to fly from its highest towers.My mother told me that the world is as beautiful as we see it and sense it. Her friends did nor interrupt her. She is a spirit who loves to wander, learn and experience the world in all its beauty. The spirit is there because Emina is just an ordinary Bosnian girl from Mostar, ordinary, just like her name. All of us now know that the Emina story and the Emina song will never stop even if this story itself has finished..

Slikovnica

MARA is a girl who lives in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza. Mara always seems deep in thought. As in a daze, she gathers her brown hair with her left hand and begins to play with it. She is not even aware that she does it, and probably would never know, if it were not for her friend's asking: "Why do you play with your hair, Mara?" "That is for me to know, and for you to wonder about." This was a secret Mara intended to keep from all those who wanted to climb inside her heart. Mara was full of little secrets that she kept from everybody. Nobody knew about her little puppy friend that she kept in an old tree trunk. She rescued him from the river after the floods had swept away everything in sight. She was now nursing him back to health by feeding him and keeping him warm and safe from prying eyes. Then there was the little boy from up the road whom Mara was very fond of, but wouldn't tell anyone about. She secretly wished he would show her how to build little bird houses. She would sit by the river mouth and dream peacefully for hours at a time, undisturbed and content. or some time now, Mara had been dreaming the same dream of visiting all the rivers her father had been telling her about. In this dream the chocolate-haired girl takes a journey across the wooden bridges and goes to the Bosna riverbed where she meets up with Emina from Mostar, Ana from Kraljeva Sutjeska and Hana from Sarajevo. The four gather on a beautiful green patch right next to the river and start to tell each other secret stories which can last for hours and hours. There is a candy store nearby where the girls can refresh themselves with all the ice cream, chocolates and lemonade they want. However, they always remember to eat an apple after they have finished the sweets because they know that apples are good for their teeth. Next in her dream, Mara and her friends flew across the land to another river her father had told her about the river Neretva. When she arrived, she found that the river was flowing. S he could see in it the reflection of the four towns nearby Konjic, Jablanica, Mostar, and Capljina. She was so amazed at this that she decided to make herself a promise that no matter how far she went, she would never forget this river. The four girls held hands and watched the rebuilding of the Old Bridge in Mostar, Emina's hometown. There was so much beauty around that the girls' hearts simply wanted to sing with joy. They all knew that nothing could come between them. Their next stop was the eastern gem the river Drina. The Drina flows close to the border between Bosnia and Serbia. It is the most powerful of all the rivers of Bosnia. The girls watched the river in awe, for its strength and beauty was truly mesmerizing. There are several little towns, which decorate the river banks: Zvornik, Foca, Gorazde and Visegrad are the prettiest of them all. Visegrad's old bridge is exceptionally beautiful so beautiful that it inspired a great writer, Ivo Andric, to write the famous story " A Bridge on River Drina". Not far from the Drina, she saw the small city of Cajnice. And, there, she visited a Church that was built five hundred years ago. It contains several beautiful paintings including one special painting of the Virgin Mary. Further north the river Sava flows. This is one of the longest rivers around it crosses several different countries. It is so big that ships float across it. Mara noticed that the Sava is a very calm river. This makes it possible for ships to glide with ease and carry people and goods from town to town. Three rivers join the Sava on its journey across many lands: the rivers Una, Vrbas and Bosna. The river Vrbas fascinated Mara, as it seemed to have many different moods. At the river source, it was very rapid and fierce a true mountain force to be reckoned with. There were many fish in it too, and lots of birds that shot down from the sky to catch them. Several power plants have also been built on the river, just like they were built on the rivers Drina and Neretva. Power is very important, for without it, Mara's Mother would not be able to make the vanilla-sprinkled apple pie, which Mara loves so much. Mara's brother would not be able to do his homework at night, nor would Mara's Dad be able to read the papers at night. Flying west across the lands, Mara spotted restless Una a river whose name means 'One' in the ancient Latin language. Why it was named 'Una' nobody knows for sure, but rumor is that it was the first river around at the time when there were no rivers anywhere. It is a very special river though. Mara noticed that it was as green as the Neretva, as fast as the Drina, as moody as the Vrbas and as tame and wide as the Sava. Mara stared at the amazing sight before her, and couldn't move it was so captivating. Travelling can be very tiring, even when it's done in a dream. Mara woke up to her mother's loving embrace and jumped with joy. She knew that the places she visited in her dreams were real, and so were her friends. The rivers she saw really do exist and she couldn't wait to see them again. She happily jumped out of bed looking forward to the promise of a new day.

Slikovnica

ANA was born by the side of a cold, blue river where the mountains are reflected in its bed. Her face is white as the swan's and her big eyes pierce with blueness of a mountain lake. lying west across the lands, Mara spotted restless Una a river whose name means 'One' in the ancient Latin language. Why it was named 'Una' nobody knows for sure, but rumor is that it was the first river around at the time when there were no rivers anywhere. It is a very special river though. Mara noticed that it was as green as the Neretva, as fast as the Drina, as moody as the Vrbas and as tame and wide as the Sava. Mara stared at the amazing sight before her, and couldn't move it was so captivating. Travelling can be very tiring, even when it's done in a dream. Mara woke up to her mother's loving embrace and jumped with joy. She knew that the places she visited in her dreams were real, and so were her friends. The rivers she saw really do exist and she couldn't wait to see them again. She happily jumped out of bed looking forward to the promise of a new day. W herever she goes, Ana leaves a trace of her hair which smells like the fresh mountain dew. Indeed, she is the earth's happy spirit. Ana loves the countryside. She loves all the forest creatures, all the plants, and all the animals which are her dearest friends. In her little heart, Anna holds a lot of warmth and love towards her Mother and Father, her teachers and her friends Emina, Mara and Hana. E arly each morning, while she is still asleep, the sun comes to her side and gently taps her on the forehead with its warm rays to wish her a good morning. The birds chirp a little wake-up song to which Ana happily opens her eyes, happily, to embrace a new day. A na begins every day with a song. She is happy to see her dear friends and share her day with them. She runs barefoot to the garden to pick dandelions which she magically transforms into three beautiful necklaces for her friends. A thousand or so years ago, an angel's hand came down from the heavens, picked little Ana up and took her past some far away places until they flew over the Bosnian mountains, lakes and into the sea. he was given a sacred message which she shares with everyone: "Love everyone as you love yourself. Do not ever hate anyone and do not wish anything bad upon anyone. You will live many years to come if you do this, and then, you will go to the heavenly kingdom where all the good people meet". Ana carried this message with the wind, over the clouds, wherever she went. eople heard her words on the Trebevic, Jahorina, Bjelasnica, Igman, Prenj, and Velez mountains. The rivers carried her words, the lakes whispered her thoughts, and the seas embraced her feelings. There once was a real king Tvrtko who lived by the town of Kakanj, near Sarajevo. His beautiful wife Katarina was so in love with him that she left her country Italy to be with him. he king was a just ruler, so they say. He loved all the good and honest people who came to him from all corners of the world. Bosnia was, at the time, an important trading destination between the east and the west. Queen Katarina loved her subjects. She was especially kind to those who didn't have much and would help them any way she could. In her honor, the townspeople of the town they ruled, The King's Sutjeska, wear the same style of dress they wore during the time of Tvrtko and Katarina. hey think of their king and queen often and with fondness. They pray for them in Sarajevo's Cathedral. They were the best king and queen that they ever had. At the time of Tvrtko and Katarina, Bosnia had a different alphabet altogether from the one today. People wrote very differently then. The alphabet was called 'Bosancica' and it combined Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic letters. This was a little confusing at first, when you just started to read and write, but after a while, it was easy and fun borrowing from the different alphabets like that. na learned a little song about how the shiny moon sat on the mountain Trebevic. There is a story about a lonely little swallow which sang the prettiest melodies for Ana and her friends. The lonely little swallow flew from lake to lake, from mountain to mountain, from green field to green field from a river bank to a river bank in search of friends. One day while she was flying, she saw a little nest with two eggs in it. She decided to visit the nest and protect it until the mother came back. hen the mother returned from gathering the food, she found the little swallow sitting on her eggs, keeping them warm. She decided to ask the little swallow to become a part of her family and asked her to stay so that her children would have a friend to play with. The little swallow agreed and now she has a little family and she is not alone anymore.

Slikovnica

Bosnian Dolls are one of the most succesfull projects of Sarajevo tribune.  Dolls are produces by womens association  "DRINA"  from Gorazde.

Info: Sarajevska Tribina,

tel. +387 33 66 73 03 email: sabi1@lol.ba or slulic@lol.ba

Price of package: 50KM ili 30USD plus postal fees