In this post from the Pink Line Project, blogger Mike Dax Iacovone describes how DC artists can benefit from following the example of self-starting young artists in Sarajevo. Here is an excerpt:

“As a DC based artist, in the past 10 years I have sometimes found myself complaining about the lack of galleries that show contemporary art, while other times I found myself defending the DC art scene saying that it’s gotten much better in recent years and exciting things are starting to happen. I can certainly see both sides, and I do remain optimistic about the future of art in DC. But how does it get better?

My answer leads into my cursory understanding of the contemporary art world in Sarajevo, Bosnia. I’ve been here for over three weeks now, working on video projects, some mapping projects, and interviewing people who were in the city during the three and a half year siege of the Bosnian War form ’92 to ‘96. I’ve quickly become accustom to the Balkan/Bohemian lifestyle of spending my days sipping strong coffee in sidewalk cafes and sitting on the front steps of a local gallery with local artists and an endless stream of international artists and art lovers who are passing through town, talking about art and travel and politics.

In a capital city of over half a million people, equipped with a University of the Arts, it would seem that there would be a thriving art scene, ripe with possibility for young artists. However, opportunities are few, there is virtually nobody buying art in Sarajevo, and the Bosnian government simply doesn’t have the money to help. There is a 40% unemployment rate, and the Socialist-turn-Capitalist economy here is in dire straights. So what’s a young artist to do? Move. Move to a city with a thriving art scene. Move to a city with patrons who spend money on art, and a government that has money to put into the arts. Move to a city where an artist can afford a place to live and work in. And that is what many young artists here do.”

Click here to read the complete post. Go here to read a New York Times Travel article detailing the emerging art scene in Sarajevo, which even mentions Pierre Courtin.

Image in the post is of Courtin in front of his Duplex Gallery, from Iacovone’s post.