The Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports organized on 3 October 2023 starting at 1 p.m. a meeting of representatives of cultural institutions of importance for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The meeting, the first of this type ever held in the Ministry, was attended by the following: Strajo Krsmanović, Director of the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ismet Ovčina, Director of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sakib Pleh, Director of the Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Devleta Filipović, Acting Director of the Film Archive of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šejla Šehabović, Director of the  Museum of Literature and Theatre Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elma Hodžić, an employee of the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirsad Sijarić, Director of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Emir Spahić, Director of the National Theatre of Mostar, Ivan Vukoja, Director of the Croatian National Theatre of Mostar, Gordana Hrenovica, Assistant Director of the National Theatre of Sarajevo, Elvir Škiljo, Deputy Director of the Bosnian National Theatre of Zenica, Mirza Ćatibušić, Director of the Bosnian National Theatre of Tuzla, Ivo Čolak, Vice-chancellor of the University of Mostar on behalf of the Gallery of the University of Mostar, Dražena Džeko, Director of the Franciscan Museum and Gallery Gorica Livno, Snježana Zovko, Director of the Mostar Symphony Orchestra and Vedran Tuce, Director of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to Minister Vlaisavljević, the meeting was attended on behalf of the Ministry by: Anita Vlašić, Head of the Minister’s Office, Damir Bunoza, Advisor to the Minister for Organization and Strategic Planning for Culture, and Mirela Miličević-Šečić from the Department for Cultural-Historical Heritage and Culture of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The participants used the opportunity to discuss the problems of the unresolved status of the institutions and their financing, and other outstanding issues, as well as to exchange opinions, ideas and proposals for their resolution. The participants expressed satisfaction and optimism with the fact that the representatives of all major cultural institutions gathered around the common table for a discussion, especially considering the fact that all cultural institutions have specific problems, and common meetings help to develop sensitivity towards others and their problems.

The open issues of cultural institutions are open for the first time at the single point, but in order to start solving them, it is necessary, according to Minister Vlaisavljević, to make data on the current situation, financial operations, as well as all other relevant information, available both to the Ministry and the public, in order to respect the principle of transparency. It was emphasized that dialogue was the right way to solve this problem, as well as the previously mentioned ones.

At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the cultural institutions expressed their gratitude to the Federal Minister of Culture and Sports for initiating for the first time organised this type of meeting. It was concluded that this was just the beginning of a constructive dialogue and that such meetings will be held on a regular basis. The proposal was presented to hold the next meeting in the Franciscan Museum and Gallery in Gorica Livno.