Civic forum is an informal body composed by representatives of citizens, who formulates public interests and launch the public actions and initiatives related to the project (public campaigns, public competition for a new monument).
COMMISSION is a public, informal body, a forum of citizens of different professions and generations, and of non-governmental organizations and institutions, led by shared interest and gathered around some open social and cultural issues that require public debates, actions, dialogue with the representatives of authorities as well as cooperation with the media.
The establishment of COMMISSION was initiated by the project called DE/CONSTRUCTION OF MONUMENT, organized by the Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Art. This project offers an analysis - from different angles, and applying a multidisciplinary approach - of the current "mind-set" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in other countries of what once used to be Yugoslavia, by way of reading ideological, political or social messages that are conveyed to public in two ways: individual actions, artistic actions and/or art in public space; or else anonymous demolition of monuments from our recent and distant past that most often occurs with a tacit approval, or silence of those who are to be held accountable and who are in charge.
A monument (or public art) is a point of departure, a metaphor or a medium for organized initiation of public debates and campaigns that relate to the (use) of public space in the broadest sense (res publica), as well as to the support to artistic interventions and civic actions in public (urban) space.
The original title "Civic Forum" (as stated in the DE/CONSTRUCTION OF MONUMENT Project) has been changed into COMMISSION, as the sign of continuity with the action undertaken by artists from Sarajevo Kurt and Plasto entitled „By the Commission’s Decision: Everyone to One’s Own" 2001, organized by the Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Art. On that occasion an ad hoc COMMISSION was formed – namely, a group of citizens – that decided to re-install the previously demolished and removed monuments to some BiH writers to their original place – the Liberation Square (Trg oslobođenja), although the local authorities did not give their approval for it.
The reasons and motives behind the establishment of COMMISSION are: the policy of silence, the policy of "pushing under the carpet" all the unpleasant and "politically incorrect" phenomena and problems; the non-existence of public opinion, communication and public dialogue between "producers" and "workers" in culture, citizens and their elected representatives; non-existence of democratic mechanisms and transparency in decision-making processes, as well as the absence of clear criteria in the use of funds in different areas; the lack of accountability for various actions and for the failure to take them – all envisaged as an organized pressure of public at large on the executive authorities. The above-mentioned reasons and motives for the civic actions are already present all over Bosnia and Herzegovina; that is why we are proposing to establish COMMISSION in other urban centers besides Sarajevo.
COMMISSION seeks clear answers from the governmental representatives at various levels to publicly posed questions that relate to local and to broader community, particularly those relating culture.
COMMISSION affirms democratic mechanisms of communication between the electorate and the elected, participation of citizens in decision-making processes, as well as participation of professionally qualified individuals whenever it comes to specific, professional issues of public interest.
COMMISSION speaks loudly about the things that the public at large is silent about.
In terms of organization, program and strategy, COMMISSION acts in several directions and at several levels (starting from the place where it was initially formed):
To start with, we are proposing some small, viable actions, or the continuation of those already commenced, in the immediate "neighborhood" (the city center) that are not ideologically or politically neutral and that, for that reason, require public debate. E.g.:
The second set of issues that are directly linked to the quality of urban life are the well-coordinated campaigns and actions such as the bridge over the Miljacka River connecting the Academy of Fine Arts and Radić’s Street, Mak Dizdar’s Quay – Kulin Ban’s Quay. (An example of yet another job that the Municipality, the City and the Canton of Sarajevo began yet never completed). The problem could be solved by installing a pontoon bridge – an action that could be "orchestrated and directed" by COMMISSION, until the permanent solution is found by those in charge at the level of the City and of the Canton of Sarajevo.
COMMISSION collects and presents to the public all the (more than welcome) initiatives taken by individuals and groups and it is constantly in search of creative and formal solutions for their presentation and (eventual) realization.
The preconditions for efficiency and effectiveness, and, at the same time, the most difficult task before COMMISSION, is to establish, by top-down pressure exerted, the (missing) link with the competent bodies that would consist of dialogue and collaboration and even of civic disobedience actions. Or, in other words, it seeks to find appropriate methods of bringing out and exposing all the protagonists of civic initiatives, particularly those responsible for the life of our citizens.
Contact : SCCA, COMMISSION, Obala Maka Dizdara 3, 71000 Sarajevo
Tel/fax: + 387 33 665 304 / 209 715; E-mail: scca@scca.ba /subject: COMMISSION