About project

STEĆAK is the name for monumental medieval tombstones, that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. They date from the 12th to 16th centuries CE, are laid out in rows, as was the common custom in Europe from the Middle Ages. The stećci are mostly carved from limestone. They feature a wide range of decorative motifs and inscriptions that represent iconographic continuities within medieval Europe as well as locally distinctive traditions. Since 2016 they are listed as UNESCO World Heritage.

Creative Europe project StećakLand aims to take us to the world where the symbols from the stećak “live” and introduce us to their meaning. Experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro will choose the most representative stećaks whose ornaments will populate the digital environment – StećakLand. We will be able to visit it through a Virtual Reality application that will be installed in Mak Dizdar’s House in Stolac, Dubrovnik Museums, the National Museum of Montenegro in Cetinje, and in the archaeological park Viminacium in Serbia. Through this application, museum visitors will learn the meanings of the symbols from the stećaks and get to know their stories. Visitors of necropolises where stecaks can be seen will be able to read the meanings of decorations and decorative ornaments through the Augmented Reality application.

StećakLand will also be available through a theatrical performance. Kamerni teatar 55 will put on stage actors with VR headsets. Through the presentation of the digital content seen by the actor, the audience will have the opportunity to observe two realities: the physical scene and the play of characters in the digital environment StećakLand through the actor’s view through VR headset.
The project lasts two years. The coordinator is the Association for Digitization of Cultural Heritage DIGI.BA, and the partners are NoHo production Ireland, Chamber Theater 55, Archaeological Institute Belgrade, National Museum of Montenegro and Mak Dizdar Foundation.