The exhibition “Sarajevo Karagöz: Shadows That Speak” presents the original puppets of the Karagöz Shadow Theatre preserved in the museum collection named after Hasib Ramić, the last performer and puppeteer of the Sarajevo Karagöz tradition. A total of 29 puppets, depicting the characters and props of the shadow theatre, will be displayed at the Novi Grad Gallery. In addition to the puppets, an improvised Karagöz stage will be set up in the central area of the gallery, recreating the atmosphere of a traditional shadow theatre performance.
Today, these puppets are far more than silent museum exhibits. They still bear the traces of the puppeteers’ hands, the echoes of long-forgotten performances, and the shadows of audiences who once gathered around improvised stages. Their silhouettes evoke a time when theatre was mobile, immediate, and deeply connected to everyday life; when all that was needed to create wonder was a single lamp, a white screen, and, above all, the ingenuity and creativity of the person behind them. For this reason, the exhibition of these puppets, together with today’s Karagöz performances, is much more than a cultural event. It is a return to one of the enduring threads of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cultural heritage—a thread that weaves together oral tradition, humour, theatre, language, and collective memory. In an age of fleeting images and rapidly consumed content, Karagöz reminds us that storytelling has always been a place where people come together.
The exhibition “Sarajevo Karagöz: Shadows That Speak” will open on Tuesday, 28 July 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at the Novi Grad Municipality Gallery.
The exhibition will remain open to visitors until 10 August 2026.
