Peculiar Artifacts in Bosnia & Herzegovina – an imaginary exhibition

For the project Thomas Nolf travelled to Bosnia-and-Herzegovina to explore the Bosnian Pyramids, stone spheres and other peculiar artifacts in relation to the social-political context. Aiming to draw an alternative biography that counteracts the post-war disillusion, I photographed, intervened and ultimately tried to pedestal the phenomena as a history to believe in. Since the reported discovery in 2005, a lot of controversy has surrounded the statements of discoverer and leader of the Archeological Park Foundation Semir Osmanagich and his team claiming the existence of the pyramids in the town Visoko. Along with the insufficient scientific justification and varied interpretation of his findings, political pressure has been exerted from different authorities in the Bosnian government to stop the excavations. During this controversy, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina closed its doors in 2012 due to a political funding crisis, partly resulting from the Dayton peace agreements which left the country in ambiguous entity. Although it reopened in 2015, the prehistoric wing of the building is still inaccessible to the public because of a lack of money to repair the roof, damaged from the Sarajevo siege. Therefore, in 2017 Thomas Nolf proposed an exhibition on the Bosnian Pyramids to the National Museum in Sarajevo. The intention of the exhibition is to show photographs and artifacts but also to use the pyramids phenomenon as a funding tool that could finance the needs of the museum itself. The book has been made afterwards the refusal. It gives a visual account of different historical artifacts; monuments; landscapes and tourist sites in Bosnia-and-Herzegovina, with text contributions by Danijel Dzino, Srecko Horvat, John Hooper, Semir Osmanagic, Cornelius Holtorf, Andrew Lawler, Irna, Thomas Nolf.