EXHIBITION ON POTKOZARJE'S LOG CHURCHES OPENS AT ŽITOMISLIĆ MONASTERY MUSEUM

MOSTAR, SEPTEMBER 24 /SRNA/ - An exhibition titled Log Churches in the Prijedor Area — Hidden Records opened at the Žitomislić Museum this evening.

The churches were built during Ottoman rule, and all five are symbols of the Potkozarje region. The exhibition consists of 13 Forex display panels featuring text and photographs of the churches, and 10 photographs have been printed on canvas. Nataša Tošanović, the author, curator, and historian at the Kozara Museum, said that the exhibition focuses on five log churches in the Prijedor area that were built during the Ottoman rule, when construction using solid materials was not permitted. “Our people adapted and made use of the materials available to them, which in our region was wood, and built log churches in secluded places because there were instances of them being desecrated and even people riding horses into the churches,” Tošanović said. The story of how the Serbian people built their homes and places of worship in secluded locations served as the inspiration for the title of the exhibition. Tošanović said that the exhibition was created in 2023 and was first displayed at the Kozara Museum in Prijedor on Vidovdan that same year. It subsequently travelled to the Museum of Herzegovina in Trebinje and then to Herceg Novi. Irina Kolak Mandić, Director of the Žitomislić Museum Foundation, said that the exhibition is unique because it focuses on churches that were built in those circumstances using locally available materials that were thought to be impermanent. However, time has shown that they have endured and still stand today, bearing witness to times gone by. “They were the only option available to believers at the time. This is interesting for people from Herzegovina, as it is something different from what we have here,” Mandić said. She stressed that the exhibition is important for the Žitomislić Museum because it marks the beginning of cooperation with the Kozara Museum.