This study explores how contemporary art and culture can serve as tools of resilience in post-conflict and transitional societies, using the long-term evolution of Ars Aevi, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sarajevo, as a case study. Founded during the siege of Sarajevo (1992–1995) as a collective, international act of cultural resistance, Ars Aevi brought together donated works from globally renowned artists in a gesture of solidarity and peace. Since its arrival in Sarajevo in 1999, the Collection has remained without a permanent museum building, existing instead in a prolonged state of “limbo” and migrating between temporary sites—from the ice rink of Skenderija’s cultural and sports center and the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Youth Center in Skenderija Center, and currently Sarajevo City Hall. Despite this nomadic trajectory, Ars Aevi still exerts significant symbolic and cultural impact. This study proposes a vision for its next phase: activating Sarajevo’s public spaces through an open-air museum model. By situating selected artworks from the Collection in key urban locations, the city itself is envisioned as a living exhibition, embedding contemporary art into everyday civic life prior to the construction of the museum’s permanent home, designed by Renzo Piano. In response to ongoing spatial and political uncertainty, drawing on theories of resilience, civic participation, and cultural democratization, through spatial analysis, archival research, and visual mapping, the study positions Ars Aevi as a prototype of cultural resistance that continues to unfold in public space while awaiting a permanent institutional home.
Ibrišimbegović et al. (Tue,) studied this question.