Young Bosnian community ready to step onto Chicago’s cultural stage
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“My father came here with $300 in his pocket,” said Hubjer, who was only six when his family arrived on American soil. Today, the Hubjers own and manage Restaurant Sarajevo on Chicago’s North Side.
“It took him a very long time to come as far as he has, but Hubjer has accomplished a lot,” he said looking around mahogany-clad dining room, which opened in 1998.
The Hubjer immigrant story is not unique. Chicago is home to nearly 50,000 Bosnians, the majority of whom arrived after the war’s outbreak.
After 15 years of settling into this new city, the Bosnian community is moving past refugee status and into a new phase. Young professional Bosnians are stepping into the public realm, ready and willing to share their heritage with others.
In 2007 a small group of Bosnians applied for nonprofit status in order to build a new community center in the Bosnian-rich 48th Ward.
In late 2008 Chicago Bosnian Americans founded Bosnians for Obama, a national campaign that reached out to their fellow immigrants in assorted swing states.
This April the Edgewater film society will host the fourth annual Chicago Festival of Bosnia-Herzegovinian film.
On Thursday the consulate general of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Chicago, Eldin Kajevic, will host a reception at the Chicago Cultural Center. The event will support the city’s 2016 Olympic bid as well as celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic games.
As is typical of newly arrived immigrants, the Bosnian presence in Chicago has been a quiet one. “Part of that is due to the fact that most of these people haven’t opened up to the wider population,” said Kajevic. “They still live inside their box and interact with each other.”
Though they came as refugees, he said, their needs have changed. “Those who came as young children have now grown up,” he said. “They have integrated well into the American community. Some, however, are barely literate as far as Bosnia is concerned.”
Like most immigrant groups before them, Sulejman Dizdarevic said, it is simply the Bosnians' time to become involved. Dizdarevic, the co-founder of Bosnians for Obama, said he sees his fellow immigrants moving forward.
“It takes time to learn the system,” he said, “to find people who are interested in perusing professional goals…who will become leaders of the community.”
Adela Sajdel is just such a leader. Sajdel came to Chicago at age 19 amid the flood of war refugees in the mid-’90s.
“I want to promote the Bosnian heritage,” she said. “Part of that is because Chicago is a great city of the immigrant community. You need to be a part of that, and if you can’t do anything about that right now, what are my children going to do?”
Sajdel is close to getting her wish. In the next few months, she hopes to receive non profit, 501(c)3, status approval from the IRS for a Bosnian community center. With that approval, Sajdel and her six-person board will seek funding and a location on Chicago’s North Side. The official name, she said, is the Bosnia American Community and Cultural Center.
A generation gap has emerged for the first-generation immigrants – between older residents who still regard Bosnia as home and the younger ones who have integrated into American life. This push-and-pull of the old world and new begs, Sajdel said, for a support system.
Programming at the community center will include health and human services, civic affairs, sports, voter registration and a variety of youth programs.
Sadjel, who works as the assistant director of the Glessner House Museum, is co-founder of the Chicago Festival of Bosnia-Herzegovinian film and invested in the arts of her native land. She said sharing her culture's beauty as well as its compelling history with young people is an important goal of the community center.
“We want to focus on programs that would help the Bosnian youth here,” she said. “We want to help them as much as possible to be a part of society."
Sajdel looked to Chicago’s ethnic mosaic for inspiration. She found a model in the Swedish American Museum Center on North Clark Street in Andersonville. “They have been around for more than 30 years,” she said. “We would want to, certainly, follow in their footsteps.”
Though the Swedish and Bosnian immigration stories are very different, the mission to share their culture with Chicago is the same. The Swedish American Museum Center has a strong membership base and a cordial relationship with the surrounding neighborhood. They have also, Sajdel said, been flexible over time in order to grow with their surroundings and remain relevant.
Though historically Swedish, Andersonville has changed over the years, said the museum's Executive Director Karin Moen Abercrombie. As Swedish-born residents moved out, the neighborhood has become more international and attracts younger families. Flexibility is an important asset for ethnic groups.
Over the years, the Museum Center has become a neighborhood mainstay.. “We have the largest building [on the street] in terms of public space,” said Abercrombie. “We’d like to be very much a part of the Andersonville community…hosting community events and meetings.”
The addition of the hands-on Children’s Museum in 2001 was another way for the Museum Center to connect with its neighbors. “It helped us not just to reach out to the Swedish community,” she said. “The kids have to make it alive, and you don’t have to be Swedish to have enjoyment of that.”
The Children's Museum also teaches Swedish-American children about their heritage. “They are our next generation,” she said. “How do you keep the heritage alive if you don’t let them actively experience it?”
If Chicago's Bosnian community can stay true to their goals of promoting their own heritage while connecting with their non-Bosnian neighbors, Abercrombie said, they will have long-term success.
“It’s best to start small and build their community center,” she said, “start to create this atmosphere of ‘I want to come back…and bring my non-Bosnian friends.’”
Striking this balance between neighborhood and ethnic culture will make the Bosnian community center vibrant within its new surroundings. Which is exactly what has happened with the Museum Center in Andersonville.
“It took him a very long time to come as far as he has, but Hubjer has accomplished a lot,” he said looking around mahogany-clad dining room, which opened in 1998.
The Hubjer immigrant story is not unique. Chicago is home to nearly 50,000 Bosnians, the majority of whom arrived after the war’s outbreak.
After 15 years of settling into this new city, the Bosnian community is moving past refugee status and into a new phase. Young professional Bosnians are stepping into the public realm, ready and willing to share their heritage with others.
In 2007 a small group of Bosnians applied for nonprofit status in order to build a new community center in the Bosnian-rich 48th Ward.
In late 2008 Chicago Bosnian Americans founded Bosnians for Obama, a national campaign that reached out to their fellow immigrants in assorted swing states.
This April the Edgewater film society will host the fourth annual Chicago Festival of Bosnia-Herzegovinian film.
On Thursday the consulate general of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Chicago, Eldin Kajevic, will host a reception at the Chicago Cultural Center. The event will support the city’s 2016 Olympic bid as well as celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic games.
As is typical of newly arrived immigrants, the Bosnian presence in Chicago has been a quiet one. “Part of that is due to the fact that most of these people haven’t opened up to the wider population,” said Kajevic. “They still live inside their box and interact with each other.”
Though they came as refugees, he said, their needs have changed. “Those who came as young children have now grown up,” he said. “They have integrated well into the American community. Some, however, are barely literate as far as Bosnia is concerned.”
Like most immigrant groups before them, Sulejman Dizdarevic said, it is simply the Bosnians' time to become involved. Dizdarevic, the co-founder of Bosnians for Obama, said he sees his fellow immigrants moving forward.
“It takes time to learn the system,” he said, “to find people who are interested in perusing professional goals…who will become leaders of the community.”
Adela Sajdel is just such a leader. Sajdel came to Chicago at age 19 amid the flood of war refugees in the mid-’90s.
“I want to promote the Bosnian heritage,” she said. “Part of that is because Chicago is a great city of the immigrant community. You need to be a part of that, and if you can’t do anything about that right now, what are my children going to do?”
Sajdel is close to getting her wish. In the next few months, she hopes to receive non profit, 501(c)3, status approval from the IRS for a Bosnian community center. With that approval, Sajdel and her six-person board will seek funding and a location on Chicago’s North Side. The official name, she said, is the Bosnia American Community and Cultural Center.
A generation gap has emerged for the first-generation immigrants – between older residents who still regard Bosnia as home and the younger ones who have integrated into American life. This push-and-pull of the old world and new begs, Sajdel said, for a support system.
Programming at the community center will include health and human services, civic affairs, sports, voter registration and a variety of youth programs.
Sadjel, who works as the assistant director of the Glessner House Museum, is co-founder of the Chicago Festival of Bosnia-Herzegovinian film and invested in the arts of her native land. She said sharing her culture's beauty as well as its compelling history with young people is an important goal of the community center.
“We want to focus on programs that would help the Bosnian youth here,” she said. “We want to help them as much as possible to be a part of society."
Sajdel looked to Chicago’s ethnic mosaic for inspiration. She found a model in the Swedish American Museum Center on North Clark Street in Andersonville. “They have been around for more than 30 years,” she said. “We would want to, certainly, follow in their footsteps.”
Though the Swedish and Bosnian immigration stories are very different, the mission to share their culture with Chicago is the same. The Swedish American Museum Center has a strong membership base and a cordial relationship with the surrounding neighborhood. They have also, Sajdel said, been flexible over time in order to grow with their surroundings and remain relevant.
Though historically Swedish, Andersonville has changed over the years, said the museum's Executive Director Karin Moen Abercrombie. As Swedish-born residents moved out, the neighborhood has become more international and attracts younger families. Flexibility is an important asset for ethnic groups.
Over the years, the Museum Center has become a neighborhood mainstay.. “We have the largest building [on the street] in terms of public space,” said Abercrombie. “We’d like to be very much a part of the Andersonville community…hosting community events and meetings.”
The addition of the hands-on Children’s Museum in 2001 was another way for the Museum Center to connect with its neighbors. “It helped us not just to reach out to the Swedish community,” she said. “The kids have to make it alive, and you don’t have to be Swedish to have enjoyment of that.”
The Children's Museum also teaches Swedish-American children about their heritage. “They are our next generation,” she said. “How do you keep the heritage alive if you don’t let them actively experience it?”
If Chicago's Bosnian community can stay true to their goals of promoting their own heritage while connecting with their non-Bosnian neighbors, Abercrombie said, they will have long-term success.
“It’s best to start small and build their community center,” she said, “start to create this atmosphere of ‘I want to come back…and bring my non-Bosnian friends.’”
Striking this balance between neighborhood and ethnic culture will make the Bosnian community center vibrant within its new surroundings. Which is exactly what has happened with the Museum Center in Andersonville.
“It’s a neighborhood attraction,” said Jason Cox, Associate Director of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce. “When people come to the museum they go shopping and…they get to explore the rest of the neighborhood. There’s a great relationship and the museum is really here to serve the neighborhood as it exists.”
by Lauren Hansen/MEDILL
Please also visit:
Sarajevo Resturant at http://www.restaurantsarajevo.com/
Chicago Festival of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film at http://www.chicagobhfilm.org/
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