Nebojša Šerić-Shoba: Monument to the International Community
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revised June 15 2010
Statement of Nebojša Šerić-Shoba
Hello all,
I've been thinking for a long while how could we pay tribute to the international community for everything they've done for us throughout the war. For years, the international community has been helping Bosnia and trying to better our lives.
As you can see in the digital sketch I've attached, I'm presenting an idea that should start the initiative to build a monument to the international community's role in our war. Our gratitude, built into this monument, should be a definite show of our willingness to cooperate further with the international community following the principles established long ago during Lisbon talks, then continued throughout the war and finally sealed with Dayton agreement. As many of you have noticed, recent months mark the end of the job that international community was performing all these years: complete reconstruction of Bosnia - Herzegovina.
We all know what the humanitarian aid given to Bosnia during the war consisted of and how good that help was. I don't want to sound ungrateful to those countries that provided their assistance to us, I only want to emphasize what is it we can expect from those friendly countries in the future.
"Ikar" was that famous can of meat, with its never-confirmed content, expiration date, country of origin and other similar data that comes with products like this. The only sure thing about the can was that we did not have anything better, neither had we any choice.
If we look at the current political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and at the international elements there (still very much in charge of running the country), we cannot but asses that political assistance Bosnia is receiving now from the West equals in quality the assistance we have been receiving in edible form during the war. Mystery content, mysterious manufacturer, unknown expiration date.
As you can see from the sketch, I've carefully selected the location across the street from the Bosnian presidency building - the only possible location for this monument. This would clearly send a symbolic message to representatives of international community visiting the presidency: We know what we have to swallow!!!
With this, I'd like to start the initiative to erect this monument and I offer my services to anyone willing to work towards this goal. Being that I live in New York, far away from Sarajevo, and that I'm unable to undertake this enterprise myself, I count on you and your help.
Anyone reading this article is authorized to send it further to their friends, as well as to publish both the text and photo describing the project.
Sincerely yours,
Nebojša Šerić-Shoba, New York City