Interview with Marinka Marosevic

For "Living History" this month, we highlight the interview with Mrs. Marinka Marosevic.

First of all, thank you for coming and speaking for our new newsletter issue. For start, can you tell us a little more about yourself?
Thank you for setting aside time for me and for my association "Izvorno Vareško ". My name is Marinka Marošević and I am from Tuzla. I am a chemical technician. Before the war, I worked at Energoinvest in Sarajevo. During the war, I came to Vareš and have been living in Vareš until now. I have worked until 2005 and since then my work with the Association begins.

What are the main activities your association is involved in?
When the Association was founded, it was founded with the aim of preserving cultural heritage in the domain of arts, crafts and handicrafts. What we are trying all these years is to keep it. A lot of attention is paid to those ancient crafts such as embroidery, weaving, painting eggs with wax, etc. As for sales, we participate in the diplomatic bazaar every year. This has been going on since 2008. Our association has received such praise from so many exhibitors that we have a very beautiful stand because the woman from Vares is specific in her work, everything must be starched and polished because it will not pass if it is not brought to that state.

How many women does your association have?
Our number of women has decreased compared to the beginning, and now there are around 20 of us, mostly unemployed women. Unfortunately, there are no young people at all. I try to involve young people. It's interesting for them when they come and see how it's all done, everything is wonderful and interesting to them, but for someone to get involved, we're still trying to get it started in some way.

If someone comes who is interested, to be part of the association and to work with you, and if they don't know how to knit or draw, do you offer some kind of education?
Surely. It is normal for everyone to help each other. Even we know, no matter how much we are together to make workshops. If we have a project, we work together in our association.  And we are always available to young people who come.

When you mentioned the sale of your handicrafts, where do your customers come from and what is it that is bought the most?
I cannot strictly say that this is a man from Vareš, a woman from Vareš . It mostly happens in the summer period because then there is a higher frequency of people in the town who come to our premises and have known about us for many years and there is no specific product that we can say that it will be sold or that we will give it to someone as a gift. Everything has its buyer. We also have an antique room that we managed to keep and preserve all the antiques of the Vara area. People also come to us to give away antiques because they can no longer keep them in their house.

You say that you have been in Vareš for a long time. Can you make a comparison of life before and today in Vareš?
I started coming to Vareš in 1986 and I remember that it was a small town that was full. I came very rarely, but when I did, I always liked to go through the town and there was always something going on. I was speechless about how life is here and how everything was. Vareš after the war is incomparable. Great difference. A big shift. Still, 20, 30 years have passed, but I think that the year 2023 will bring much more.

Are you familiar with the mining project that is being carried out in the localities of Rupice and Veovača ? What do you think the impact of the opening of the mine on life in Vareš will be, and will it be?
When your first exploration began, I always had a positive opinion. This project opens up a greater opportunity for Vareš. Your company, which started with such a strong project, and it is being realized, here is this year and next year is yours, where the mine in Vareš is being opened, which will leave great opportunities for you young people, who will all find their place. You made it possible for these children to get an education. Environmental protection, which is given a lot of attention. Basically, I have all the praise for everything that is done. I was simply speechless, which I am very happy about.

What do you think the future will be like in Vareš after the opening of the mine?
I think that now people notice that there is more people here. Notice that something is happening. And I can imagine next year. I think that Vareš will not be able to be recognized in everything, how it will look, how much it will be. If one family comes, another will come too. With the very opening of the polyclinic, which was opened thanks to Eastern Mining, changes for the better can be seen.

Will the opening of the mine directly affect what you do in the association?
My association, which means Izvorno Vareško , and I hope that it will find its adequate place in Eastern Mining. We want to have a good relationship with the company and the mine. We also have a desire to cooperate and offer everything we can. We have a desire to do what the company wants in its offer for its guests. 

At the end of our conversation, do you have any message for the youth from your point of view, what would you say to the youth of our town?
My message for young people is to work, to study and to simply find themselves in Vareš. That they don't leave, because you can live here as others do, and that they devote themselves a little to tradition. And let's move on to something newer with this learning. Let's keep the old thing that is recognizable for Vareš and give it some modern design so that it is together.

Thank you very much for your time.