Tales of an Observatory
Telescopic repairs in Sarajevo
How to tell the story of the Observatory of Sarajevo?
Perhaps through the movement of its gaze:
Down - Up - Down - Up?
In the heights of the city, on the Trebević hill, an old watchtower from the end of the XIXth century. A defensive fortification built during the Autro-Hungarian empire to protect the city below.
Down.
In the 1960s, a group of students had the somewhat crazy idea to make it stargazing instead. The built an astronomical observatory with very limited financial resources but a lot of ingenuity.
They managed to make it a place for students and other visitors keen to learn during observation nights; families climbed up to see “the great telescope”; passionate amateurs gathered through Sarajevo’s astronomy club… a place that formed part of the cosmopolitan and curious Sarajevo of the 1980s.
Up.
During the Siege, the observatory was forced to lower its gaze again. Hijacked, repurposed for surveillance and targeting, rather than astronomical observation. The relationship with the sky became twisted.
Down.
Meteor, National Museum, Sarajevo
“The sky is still engulfed in darkness
— by the brightness of earthly objects.”
“But then the buildings turn to cardboard
Flat and black shadows emerge.
And then the glowing sky appears
And the moon grows luminous in the heart of war.”
S. Mehmedinovic,
Sarajevo Blues
So, in the meantime, a solution is found…
A telescope is hoisted atop a shopping mall, 40 minutes away, with its entrance nestled amidst pool tables
Despite the many attempts to launch the reconstruction of the observatory, everything seems to be at a standstill.
It is not ideal, it is a bit far, and the lights of the shopping mall sometimes interfere…
But still, it restores a place of encounters and sharing.
In the meantime, Sarajevo is quietly dosing.
And bright earthly objects
Will soon turn into cardboards
Under the gaze of the old observatory
Thank you to the Members of the Orion Astronomical Society in Sarajevo and Magnum Learn for the support during this project.