Norsk forening Montenegro
Mostar - Bosnia
Mostar (Cyrillic: Мостар, Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [mǒstaːr]) is a city and municipality in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inhabited by 113,169 people, it is the most important city in the Herzegovina region, its cultural capital, and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. The Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's most recognizable landmarks, and is considered one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.
Bruce Lee in Mostar
The statue was the first public monument to Bruce Lee unveiled in the world, with a statue in Hong Kong being revealed one day later marking what would have been the Chinese star's 65th birthday.
The project of the statue was spearheaded by the youth group Mostar Urban Movement, who saw the statue as "an attempt to question symbols, old and new, by mixing up high grandeur with mass culture and kung fu." Bruce Lee was chosen by organisers as a symbol of the fight against ethnic divisions. Lee, who was an American of Chinese descent and famous martial arts actor, represented to the residents of Mostar a bridging of cultures. "One thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee."
In a city with a reputation for violence, the dynamic movie star was a symbol of "loyalty, skill, friendship and justice."