The museum is located in a small industrial town with one of the Bosnian UNESCO world heritage sites (necropolis with medieval tombstones – stećci) that is placed in the valley of Drina and near the medieval road to Dubrovnik (Croatia). It is established in September 2016 and currently exists as a department unit of Cultural Centre in Gorazde. The museum is housed in a unique, socialist-style building on the right side of the river Drina. The building is built in 1956, the era of development of cultural community centres throughout former Yugoslavia.
The Museum exists as a part of the Cultural Centre that is financed by the local government (Municipality). The initial financial support for the project activities is provided by the Cantonal Ministry of Culture.
Key partnerships for the Museum are with the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Foundation Cultural Heritage without Borders in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Public consultation on the vision, mission and goals of the museum was held in a workshop organized by CHwB BiH in October 2016 as the basis for the development of the mid-term strategic plan. The museum has defined four key programmes: (1) Research; (2) Community Outreach Program; (3) Promotional Events and (4) Educational Programs. As a public institution, the special focus of the museum is community involvement as a vital contribution to continue the growth of the institution. Admir Dzemidzic is committed to continuous education and learning by takes part in training (the first aid to heritage, the conservation of metal objects, etc.).
The main goal of the project is continuous preservation and promotion of the cultural and historical wealth of Bosansko – Podrinjski Canton, as well as capacity building for small regional museums in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Specific objectives are:
- To design and build a core archaeological exhibition making a strong connection to the local population;
- To conserve endangered historical and cultural museum objects for future museum activities;
- To ensure ownership of the community by their direct involvement;
- To design an educational and interactive exhibition as the basis for other museum activities.
- To build capacity for professionals from small museums in participatory exhibition design and preventive conservation
The project is supported by Headley Trust.