16 Oct 2019
We stumbled into the Art and Tours office in the Old City by coincidence, looking for a town map. Mak was friendly and we got talking about what tours they offer and our ears pricked up when he mentioned a Street Art Tour and a Street Art Workshop, both sounded fascinating. We had also wanted to do a general tour of Sarajevo and after a bit of planning and thought Mak and his colleagues devised a full day program which combined all three.
The next day we met our guide (and renowned street artist) Alen at 9:00am and started with a walking tour around Sarajevo, learning about the origins of the local street art scene and viewing some of the current highlights on walls around the city.
This was followed by an early lunch, an impromptu introduction to some local artists that were interested in and then a general tour of Sarajevo sights by car and a visit to the Tunnel of Hope museum.
After that we went to Trebevic mountain (panoramic view, bob sleigh track walk) where we did the street art workshop and created - with Alen’s help - our own painting on the wall of the bob sleigh track. This was a lot of fun and we left with a sense of pride and satisfaction, having added a work of our own to the Sarajevo street art.
We finished the day with visits to the Jewish cemetery and yellow fortress and were dropped off at our accommodation around 5:30pm, happy and smiling.
Alen is a wonderful guide with very broad knowledge, who brought the day’s tour to life by sharing his personal experiences, as a street artist, but also as a Bosnian who lived through the war with his family in Sarajevo.