“First of all, thank you. Thank you of course for welcoming me into Kuma summer school. Thank you for listening to my personal story. Thank you for bringing diaspora together. For selecting such talented and good-hearted individuals. Thank you for creating a platform that elevates the voices of artists, historians, people within Bosnia and Herzegovina. That platform has allowed us to be listeners, to validate their stories and be participants in the progression of such a beautiful nation. I have struggled for many years with the duality that is being Bosniak and American. Being an artist who makes work regarding that relationship and always feeling like it wasn’t important or interesting. I really have never met someone like me, someone who has a similar story. This summer I met Uma and Maja, two incredible souls that finally understood, and to be understood is such an incredible thing. I can’t even begin to describe how healing meeting those two was for me. Meeting everyone in the program was healing. We all came together from different parts of the world because there was a shared interest, a shared love I would say. After this summer I think I will listen to my heart a little more. Kuma has and will continue to connect, open doors and heal for many, many years”.

“Kuma International Summer School is one of the exceptional platforms for gathering people of different backgrounds around discussing Bosnian and Herzegovinian history reflected in various artistic forms. That is why I believe, not only I benefited from it. From my perspective, the experience one can get during these intense days is not only learning itself but also kind of ability to resonate on a deeper level with what has had happened in the past in Bosnia and by feeling a bits of pain one hears about to broad empathy which, I believe this world needs more than ever. To me, Kuma is a place where people can share difficult yet at the same time often empowering stories, practices, and narratives”.

“I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU. I am not sure if you are aware of how much you did for us. These past two weeks were beyond what I expected, and I am so grateful for that. Because of you I met amazing friends for life, expanded my world so much, I started to appreciate my family more and all that they went through during the war after years of denial and keeping those bed memories buried deep inside me. Again, thank you for everything”.

“Even though I am Bosnian, I never saw Bosnia in such a light as you have shown me. The thing I have to thank you the most is for connecting me to my Bosnian roots, and showing me, that although I am caught between two different worlds and sometimes I feel like I am not “Bosnian enough”, I am not alone. I now have a greater sense of what it means to be Bosnian and am more proud of my heritage than I have ever been”.