‘One thing is to have a wish, another thing is to have an idea, but to be persistent and to persevere in what you believe in and stand behind is what makes your success and keeps you running. This is my message to the young – persistence and work always pay off.’
Bogda handiworks
In ‘Bogda handiworks’ in Visoko, one can find hand coloured woollen scarves, colourful hats, Santa Claus-shaped gloves, souvenirs and pendants in the shape of small sheep, small socks and traditional ‘priglavci’ (handmade knitted slippers) with woollen balls. All these are made from the wool of the autochthonous ‘Pramenka’ sheep from pastures of the Mount Vlašić. ‘Toys, furniture, rugs and blankets, jewellery, anything you can imagine – we can make it of wool’, says satisfyingly Ms Alisa Mujkanović, the owner of ‘Bogda handiworks’ and an expert loom operator.
Having left the civil engineering studies, she began working in a call centre but she resigned after two years. She did not want to sit at home doing nothing; she joined her mother and mastered the art of weaving although she hadn’t known how to sew on a button.
‘We had a modern, American loom and I felt in love with this craft immediately. I finally felt calm and relieved from stress while I would work.’
After four years of doing this for hobby, her hard-working hands became the source of income, her job and her love. She and her mother sell their products in a shop in Baščaršija, and the rest of products is available online, on the account of ‘Bogda handiworks’ social media. They deliver their products in the whole country. Her work being recognised and appreciated, she spent three years in Albania as a honorary lecturer.
‘One thing is to have a wish, another thing is to have an idea, but to be ypersistent and to persevere in what you believe in and stand behind is what makes your success and what keeps you running. This is my message to the young – persistence and work always pay off. My mother raised me in that spirit and it did pay off. I have my own studio i.e. a small company I live on’, Alisa says.
