ZANAT

From village craft to UNESCO World Heritage List. To tell the story of Zanat we must go more than a century back in time, when Gano Nikšić stumbled upon what once was a primitive hand-carving technique that originated from a small village close to his hometown of Konjic. Gano learned the carving technique from pioneer woodcarver-entrepreneurs, who (thanks to visionary educational support of the Austro- Hungarian empire’s regime that ruled Bosnia at the time) perfected the village technique beyond recognition. That vision and passion was later recognized internationally by people who are now part of the Zanat family, like Scandinavian designers Monica Förster, Harri Koskinen, and renown Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh who accepted an invitation to design for Zanat at the inception stage. Today Zanat is creating opportunities for the entire community, hiring and training young people. Zanat is breathing a completely new life into this UNESCO listed hand-carving technique, preserving and promoting the craft that used to be close to extinction. While collaborating with spectacularly talented designers, they are continually developing and introducing new standards of sustainability and community outreach.