I presented on the efficacy of art for cultural evolution titled: “Koinonia on the Rocks” during a symposium titled: “Who is my Neighbor?”
Koinonia is an ancient Greek word meaning fellowship and communion during shared
participation in something common. At Burch University in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
I conducted a shared experience among students where there is a cohesive mix of
different faiths. Students were asked to paint symbols of their faith on rocks, explain them, and
then place them on campus grounds in a spiral formation to symbolize harmony and
coexistence. Sharing religious symbols invites dialogue and connects personal gestures to
social consciousness and inclusion. Sarajevo’s history showcases a rich culture of religious
diversity, including Muslims, Christians, and a small Jewish community, all coexisting in the
same city, where mosques, churches, and synagogues are found in the same neighborhoods,
naturalizing the descriptors’ Jerusalem of Europe’ and ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’.
