Mak Dizdar is considered one of the greatest poets of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was born on 17 October 1917 in Stolac, but he spent most of his life in Sarajevo, where he died on 14 July 1971. In 1966, he published the book of poetry Stone sleeper, which is considered the crown of his entire literary creation and one of the foundational works of the literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Towards the end of his life, Dizdar wished to return to his hometown, but his wish never came true. In 1997, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his birth, the descendants of Mak Dizdar gathered around the Mak Dizdar Foundation decided to posthumously fulfill his wish and build the Mak House, a museum and gallery center dedicated to his life and work.
The Mak House is not the birthplace or grave of Mak Dizdar, but it is conceived as something more subtle: a place at which Mak’s spirit is present, living here in his manuscripts, his books and notes, as well as every poem and word he wrote. Besides, due to Mak’s relation to the stećak, the Mak House is also a home for the art of the stećak. Not only in a scholarly form, through the literature about the stećak and medieval Bosnia in the library of the Mak House, but also through the art inspired by these unique medieval standing stones. Because, as Mak tried to show through his work, the stećak is not only a historical curiosity, but a work of art and literature. Raising awareness about that fact is one of the main tasks of the Mak Dizdar Foundation and its home in Stolac, the Mak House.
Besides the works of Mak Dizdar and the art of the stećak, the Mak Dizdar Foundation is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in general, and particularly that in the area of Stolac and Herzegovina. In that context, the Mak Dizdar Foundation has created and implemented the entire project Stolac: crossroads of civilization.
