SARAJEVO, October 10 (FENA) – The multimedia exhibition “Storytelling through Song: Narrative Songs in the Tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” curated by ethnomusicologist Zanin Berbić, opened on Thursday at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

The exhibition features many significant artifacts, including the gusle of Fra Grgo Martić, manuscripts of Ludvik Kuba, and materials by Kosta Hörmann, one of the first curators of the National Museum of BiH, among many other items.

Author and curator Zanin Berbić, an ethnomusicologist at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told visitors that the exhibition explores one of the most important aspects of Bosnian and Herzegovinian culture, narrative melodic-poetic forms. “These are folk songs in which the emphasis is on the text, on the story being told, while the melodies are usually short, often monotone, but always serve the narrative,” Berbić explained.

The first section of the exhibition presents gusle (a traditional string instrument) and other instruments used to accompany these songs, such as the saz, šargija, violin, and even a rare two-string tamburica once played in the Bosnian Krajina region. The exhibition also includes photographs of women who were bearers of the narrative singing tradition, who most often performed without instrumental accompaniment.

The third section displays some of the most important archival records preserved in the Department of Ethnology related to this topic, such as the original manuscripts of Ludvik Kuba from the late 19th century, among the oldest records of traditional Bosnian music. Kuba, in cooperation with the National Museum, traveled nearly all of Bosnia on horseback, collecting numerous folk tunes.

The author pointed out that attentive visitors will also notice details such as the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as historical figures including Josip Broz Tito, the Morić brothers, Hitler, and Goebbels.

“With this exhibition, we wish to show that the human need to tell stories through song transcends all national, religious, ethnic, and political worldviews,” Berbić said at the opening.