One inspiring artist that I met at the 2008 Regional Balkana Art Colony was Nermina Ramic. She was born in a place called Bosanska Krupa which is a municipality on the Una River in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosanska Krupa is located 30 km northeast from Bihac (and 350 km away from Sarajevo) and it is part of the Unsko-Sanski canton.

This is one of the 10 cantons in the the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. She currently resides in a place called Jezerski, which is also in the Unsko-Sanski canton. Here is a handy visual so that you can see where Nermina is from:

Nermina attended a junior high school for the blind in Zagreb, Croatia. She later returned to Bosnia to attend high school in Sarajevo. Although she is unable to see in her right eye and can partially see in her left eye (in which she has a 5% visibility), Nermina has produced stunning artwork since she was very young.

She uses a special technique that conists of holding a magnifying glass (10X zoom focus) to help her see what she is sketching. Depsite the fact that Nermina constantly struggles to see things, and no matter how close in front of her eyes the object is, she manages very well.

The way Nermina worked impressed me very much. This very limited eyesight has not stopped her from her passion — producing art. It is definitely time-consuming for Nermina but she is completely immersed in it.

Nermina makes paintings and portraits. She has also produced beautiful sketches with colored pencils. She uses various science fiction and fairy tale motifs in some of her art work. Nermina also makes wonderful models out of materials like clay or tape, such as this dolphin model.

Nermina made this dolphin as a gift for her older sister. It is made out of clear tape which she had to keep binding into a dolphin shape. According to Nermina, it was a task that took her a long time to complete.

She told me that she enjoys painting because it relaxes her. I asked her why she specifically uses many science-fiction related themes in her art and why she enjoys watching many science-fiction related films and shows (she is a huge Star Trek fan). Nermina’s response was that she is attracted by and appreciates unusual things and colors.

This is her first time at the Balkana Art Colony which has been organized by Survivor Corps. Nermina also affirmed how happy she was to be a participant at the colony. She remarked that it gave her an opportunity to show other people how important painting and art is in her life. This is Nermina’s way of portraying her survivorship to others.

Despite the trauma that some of these artists have experienced as a result of their disabilities, they all have an enormous amount of hope for their future. They realize that they can be an active agent in changing things for the better in this war-torn nation, and they already have.

Being a part of the Balkana Art Colony and meeting people like Nermina was definitely one of the greatest experiences I’ve had at LSN BiH. When I leave, I will surely miss Nermina and all of the other survivors that I have met. Here are some more pictures of her at the colony.