Sarajevo, in the nineties

1991: Balkan war. An incomprehensible cut into the postwar European history. Incredible cruelty so close to us!

It was a book that encouraged our founder Bernhard Hanel, Berni to go to Sarajevo in 2003 himself: 

Silence is a noise JULI ZEH

In summer 2001 Juli Zeh headed out to Bosnia, escorted only by her dog. Her stated goal is to find out if Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country "you can go to" or if it actually disappeared together with all the media coverage of the war.

While reading this book it became clear to Berni: I want to help there and fulfill the European thought of solidarity. No doubts for him, that children are the main target group of his intensions, as they can't do anything about the situations they are born in.

2004 was the first time he switched the destination of the 12th grade school trip from visiting the beautiful art treasures of Italy to going Sarajevo to help building the first multiethnic kindergarten of postwar Sarajevo.

Joint Action, the feeling of being able to actually DO something, building, being creative, sweating and crying together in a foreign culture became an intensive, moving and deeply transforming community experience for everybody involved. That's how the foundation for KuKuk Kultur was set.