Laibach-concert

After several failed attempts, the Slovene cult band Laibach and the artists of NSK (“Neue Slowenische Kunst”, New Slovenian Art) succeeded to travel to Sarajevo in November 1995 where they performed for two days at the National Theater, involving concerts, an exhibition and speeches by the NSK-member Peter Mlakar.  At this occasion, they proclaimed Sarajevo as a territory of the NSK state and issued hundreds of NSK-passports to citizens of Sarajevo. “It was as if the Martians had landed in the city after all the horrors we had experienced,” later recalled Zoran Kanlić, who captured the shows of Laibach and NSK in photographs. The performances took place on 20 and 21 November 1995, which were, coincidentally, the days when the Peace Agreement was reached in Dayton, Ohio, ending the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The event was organized by the Obala Art Centar and Radio Zid , with the financial support of the Open Society Fund BiH. Aida Kalender, who volunteered at this time for Radio Zid, remembers: “We were so thrilled that Laibach was playing in Sarajevo that I was constantly filling the Radio program with Laibach music and concert announcements. The promotion was so intense and, to put it mildly, “aggressive” that we had a huge number of Radio calls every day from people who wanted tickets for the concert which were free, but due to the limited capacity of the hall of the National Theater it was necessary to have a ticket. (…) The concert was fantastic, Mlakar’s speech caused enthusiasm among those present, everything was unreal and in this surreality Fico (the bass player Elvis J. Kurtovic) casually said to us at one point in the gallery of the National Theatre: “Guys, peace has been signed!” “Again?”, I commented. No one took him seriously.”