THE STONE SPEAKERS

Catholics from all around the world make the pilgrimage to Međugorje, where they participate in huge outdoor masses and spend their nights in cement dormitory castles. The village of Višegrad is home to a pompous neo-Renaissance quarter that pays homage to Nobel Prize winning author Ivo Andrić and is circumnavigated by pleasure boats. The tiny town of Visoko boasts pyramids whose tunnel vaults promise healing through the power of terrestrial radiation. The salt lakes of Tuzla, which were created by collapsing mines and now welcome water enthusiasts, appear downright demure by comparison. Bosnia-Herzegovina – still marked by the war – lies on the losing side of Europe: where state socialism was superseded by capitalism in the 1990s, prosperity and democracy are more distant than ever and people have to be resourceful to make ends meet. With precision, humour and wonder, Igor Drljača observes the absurd excesses of tourism and allows the inhabitants of the communities to say their piece. THE STONE SPEAKERS paints the sad portrait of a country that exists between a rich past and an entirely uncertain future and has chosen to stake its fortune on religion, folklore, esotericism and nostalgia for the time being.