History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina implemented a serious of workshops in cooperation with the Catholic School Center Saint Joseph from Sarajevo. The museum team developing three prototype workshops in psychology, human rights and literature, relating the content to the topics in the school’s curriculum. 95% of 70 young people between 15 and 18 years of age that took part in the workshops visited the museum for the first time.

Realizing this project, the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has become the space for learning about serious topics in a fun way. The pupils and teachers received a new perspective and an opportunity for discussion and on critical thinking through the prism of dealing with the past.

Aims and objectives of the project were: (1) To support educational system during the pandemic; (2) To promote museum as a space of education; (3) To transfer the knowledge about the history and culture via museum stories.

Young people who participated in the project are now attached to the museum and its stories and are aware of the importance of the museum in times of crisis. Apart from pupils, two volunteers and one intern had the possibility to participate in the workshops – to create the content, to facilitate the workshop and to work with groups.

As the result of the project, the museum has restructured its educational program and made a significant step in designing its educational strategies. The workshop models will be used in the future as a platform that supports school’s curriculum activities and the need to extend the project in the future is evident.

“Based on an example from history, I created a monster which demonstrates my fears and put the monster in a museum box. I learned that we can transform fears into art.” Ivana, student at Catholic School Center Saint Joseph

The project is supported with BMN Small Grants 2021 scheme realised with the financial support of Headley Trust UK.