Members of the Enabled Theatre Project team, led by director of East West Center Sarajevo, Haris Pašović, the Project Coordinator of the Serbian National Theatre (SNP) Novi Sad, Dragana Kuzmanović and the Project Coordinator of the Festival Grad Teatra Budva, Aleksandra Maslovar, visited the Institution for Social Care, Health Care, Upbringing and Education Pazarić on November 30, 2023.
The Project team also comprised members of the SNP acting ensemble Lidija Stevanović, Gordana Đurđević-Dimić, Jelena Antonijević, Sanja Ristić-Krajnov, Aljoša Đidić, Marko Savković, Aca Lazin, Aleksandar Sarapa and Vukašin Ranđelović, Director of the Tala Dance Centre from Zagreb, choreographer Larisa Lipovac, scenographer Andreja Rondović and friends of the Project, assistant director of ŠOSO Milan Petrović Novi Sad Svetlana Bašević, school psychologist at ŠOSO Milan Petrović Maja Kukobat and Director of Public Institution Day Centre for Children and Youth with Difficulties and Disabilities Biseri from Budva, Miljana Radoman.
In a conversation with the director of Institution Pazarić Samir Suljagić, the President of the Institution’s Steering Board Mirjana Mihalj and member of the Steering Board Avdo Kovačević, the Project team members were informed in detail about the work of the Institution and the daily care for the beneficiaries.
Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina Duška Jurišić expressed her support to the Project and emphasized the importance of realizing all the rights of persons with developmental disabilities, which, due to the complex system in BiH, are still not fully realized.
After the meeting, members of the Project team, accompanied by the Head of the Social Service, Anela Čolić, visited the Institution’s facilities, including accommodation facilities for preschool and school-aged beneficiaries and the Centre for Education and Training, where work-occupational treatments are carried out (work in creative workshops, psychological-social support, sports therapy) in the Resnik locality. Members of the Project team then visited housing facilities intended for integration into the local community in the localities of Ramići I and II.
At the moment, the Pazarić Institution looks after 336 beneficiaries with developmental disabilities, who come from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The history of the Institution begins in 1947, when the Home for the care of children without parental care – war orphans – was founded. The Institution employs 159 workers, of which 61 are caregivers. Twenty-nine employees are professional staff – speech therapists, special education teachers, psychologists, educators, work, occupational and sports therapists. According to the needs, the Institution also employs social workers and medical staff – medical technicians and physiotherapists.
The visit to the Pazarić Institution, implemented during the 5th Sarajevo Fest, is part of the international theatre project Enabled Theatre produced by the East West Center Sarajevo, the Serbian National Theatre Novi Sad, the Festival Grad teatar Budva and the Tala Dance Centre Zagreb, which will premiere in April 2024 at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, then at the 6th Sarajevo Fest, in Zagreb and as part of the Grad teatar Festival programme in Budva.
The Enabled Theatre Project is a regional art project that aims for greater inclusion in art in the Western Balkans and is supported by Creative Europe.
