Ježeva Kućica is a video work in which he reads Branko Ćopić’s book Ježeva kućica by candlelight. The piece was inspired by a testimony published on the website of the War Childhood Museum, in which a girl described reading the book during a time of conflict. Her account highlights the fragility of life, the need for safety, and the ways small acts of reading or caring for a sibling can bring comfort in times of crisis.

In imagining her experience, he visualized the scene of a child reading by candlelight while the world around her was uncertain. At the same time, photographs from the War Childhood Museum showed people enjoying brief moments of play and peace even amid intense conflict. These contrasting images of danger and everyday life shaped his approach to the work and informed his reflections on memory and identity.

The candle in the video functions both as a literal source of light for reading and as a metaphor for the fragility and persistence of life. Its flickering creates subtle variations in his voice, causing tremors or breaks, which also reflect the fragmented nature of the book itself, echoing the missing pages mentioned in the testimony. The act of reading in this context becomes an exploration of personal memory and the formation of identity through stories, even under extreme circumstances.

Ježeva kućica tells the story of a hedgehog who lives in a modest but cozy home and faces ridicule from other animals for loving such a small and unremarkable place. The hedgehog’s unwavering attachment to his home ultimately earns admiration and respect, showing that true happiness comes from care, connection, and a sense of belonging rather than size or extravagance. In the context of war, the story resonates deeply, evoking the ways people cling to their memories, environments, and personal histories to maintain a sense of self.

Through this video, he invites viewers to consider the quiet resilience of everyday life, the emotional weight carried by simple objects, and the ways memory, loss, and identity endure alongside love and care. The work meditates on humanity’s fragile but persistent light, showing how even in the darkest moments, personal and collective memory shapes perception, identity, and hope. English subtitles have not yet been fully added, but he intends to provide them throughout the entire piece.

The piece was shown in the conference, Why Remember? Testimonies of Light Sarajevo 2025.

RIKUTO FUJIMOTO