War in Bosnia

This article argues that the post-Dayton political organisation of Bosnia represents an exemplary illustration of the difficulties associated with the empirical application of the pluralist model of “consociational democracy”. The country’s political system has been predicated on the existence of consensus and the spirit of cooperation among the three ethnic groups without, however, offering any electoral or political incentives to their leaderships to cooperate. Also, the inclusion of several elements to the Dayton accords of a partition approach to conflict resolution has even encouraged the ethnic leaderships to maintain their nationalistic programs and their endeavours to exploit the aforementioned power-sharing arrangements. Indeed, the structural deficiencies of the Dayton agreement have permitted nationalists to continue implementing their ethnic
agendas and have accounted for the slow progress towards the implementation of the Bosnian peace process. Therefore, this article elaborates on the international policies in Bosnia, aimed at transforming the country into a viable multiethnic state, and highlights the significance of motivations for implementing the peace process.

Abstract: In this study the author provides an insight into the operation “Cagalj”, under the supreme command of Croatian general Janko
Bobetko, the Croatian army and the corresponding military activities in
Mostar area in June 1992. By analyzing the documents of various provenances, the event from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995)
and its role in the overall situation in Mostar and its narrower and wider
surroundings was observed. For a more comprehensive and complete
picture in the reconstuction of the operation itself the author analyses
the negotiations and deals of that time
Keywords: “Čagalj”, Mostar, Croatian Army, Janko Bobetko, Neretva

This article elaborates the topic of food in the context of an armed conflict. It asks what happens to a social actor and his/her ”everyday bread“ in the conditions of extreme hunger and overall material scarcity? Using the example of eating practices during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, the author explores the issue of everyday subsistence strategies during the radical structural changes. She develops a thesis that the ability of improvisation and the knowledge of the natural environment in the time of crises significantly increases the chance of survival. Moreover, she also argues that in certain situations food can be used as a tool of power and a marker of social exclusion. In extreme cases, targeted groups and individuals can be intentionally starved out. These research conclusions are based on author‘s long-term ethnographic and historical research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the towns of Srebrenica and Sarajevo.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was the most ethnically-mixed republic among
the six republics in the former Yugoslavia. In 1990, the Communist Party
was collapsing and beginning the process of transformation, and nationalistic parties were springing up – the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA), led by Alija Izetbegović; the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), led by Radovan Karadžić; and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Stjepan Kljuić.
In the first multi-party elections held in November and December 1990, these three largest ethnic parties in the country won. They formed a coalition government and divided the power: the President was a Muslim, the Speaker of the Parliament was a Serb, and the Prime Minister was a Croat. But the views held by the three nationalistic parties on the future of Bosnia differed.
On 15th October 1991 the Muslim and Croatian delegates in the Bosnian Parliament adopted a declaration of sovereignty. Serbian members had left the assembly in protest, and they formed their own assembly a few days later and established the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 1992.
On 29th February and 1st March 1992, a referendum was organized in Bosnia, which was boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, but Muslims and Croats, fearing the drive for a “Great Serbia”, voted for Bosnian independence. In April 1992 tensions in Bosnia exploded into a bloody civil war, which came to an end in 1995 with the help of American diplomacy.

This paper critically addresses the identification of transitional, retributive and restorative justice, ICTY, and historiographical memory as the moral foundation of conflict transformation and peace-building normativeness in post-Yugoslav societies. First, the paper argues that Western Balkans' socio-political maturity depends on the moral exactitude of legal justice and ethnopolitical collective identity mechanism within conflicting memory order. Second, it questions the significant objective between memory and oblivion. Memory is a justice contributor but could affect peace, reconciliation, social progression, and development. Given humanity's propensity for violence, then at the very least, forgetfulness and the sacrifices it imposes may be a cause for relief rather than outrage after the most critical aspects of transitional, retributive, and restorative justice are fulfilled. The meaning and significance of self-defense against the committed genocide require solicitude for conscience and moral questioning. Third, national/ethnoreligious collective denial inducted by the politically encouraged culture of fear and ethnoreligious antagonism is critical for a liberal peace stalemate and social (in)justice. Thus, a decadeslong political matrix regarding the "ethnonational interest" and ethnic patriotic collectivism departed as exceptional nationalism. Finally, these circumstances make human (universal) justice principles an open question.

Kao dio 8. Međunarodnog festivala fotografije „Organ vida“  14. septembra predstavljena je izložba „Lekcije iz '91.“. Izložbu postavljenu u Galeriji Zvonimir  u Zagrebu kurirala je Sandra Vitaljić, jedna od najznačajnijih fotografkinja u ovom dijelu Evrope te autorica udžbenički vrijedne knjige Rat slikama – suvremena ratna fotografija u kojoj je analizirala zloupotrebu ratnih fotografija kroz povijest sa posebnim osvrtom na manipulaciju fotografijama nastalim u ratovima nakon raspada Jugoslavije.

The Srebrenica Commission was formed by the Republika Srpska government to investigate the events that occurred in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. The Commission was formed by a decision of the Human Rights Chamber (HRC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In its report, the Commission consisting of mainly Serb officials concluded that crimes were committed in Srebrenica, citing the Krstic Case at International Court of the Former Yugoslavia. It also provided locations of mass graves where the Bosnian Serb Army hid remains of victims from Srebrenica. The paper aims to research the Selimovic et al case at the HRC and its implications, including clarifying how truthful and correct was the Commission on locations of mass graves.

The 11 new marble headstones erected at the small village cemetery at the outskirts of Hegići in late July 2007 outnumbered the number of people who had returned to the village. Only the dates of death engraved on the white headstones revealed that most of the people buried that day died together on the same day in July 1992. The small congregation of some 50 people, made up of surviving relatives and neighbours coming from afar, mourned in dignity and prayed for the souls of the victims of the massacre. Through ethnography of a collective funeral for the victims of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in a small Bosnian village, and reflexive narrative analysis of the past and present realities of the survivors, this article explores the complex relationship between memory, place and reconciliation in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This article examines whether there is a steady pattern of celebrity engagement with humanitarian issues through a study of the involvement of U2 and Angelina Jolie in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The activism of these two celebrities was limited in both time and content and developed at different phases of the country’s recent history. The article notes that their involvement was idiosyncratic and was not developed at certain ‘turning points’ or ‘critical junctures’ of the conflict. It also argues that their activism was primarily motivated by personal networks: the decision of U2 and Jolie to get involved was prompted by their acquaintance with people who knew and cared about Bosnia. Therefore, the article highlights the role of intermediaries and underlines the need to study the personal networks that initiate and/or facilitate celebrity involvement in social causes.

The Bosnian Case: Art, History and Memory concerns the representation of historic and traumatogenic events in art through the specific case of the war in Bosnia 1992-1995. The research investigates an aftermath articulated through the Freudian concept of Nachträglichkeit, rebounding on the nature of representation in the art as always in the space of an "afterness". The ability to represent an originary traumatic scenario has been questioned in the theoretics surrounding this concept. Through The Bosnian Case and its art historical precedents, the research challenges this line of thinking, identifying, including through fieldwork in Bosnia in 2016, the continuation of the war in a war of images.

The presence of regular Yugoslav military forces in central Podrinje and their participation in the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina have been evident from the very beginnings. As there were no significant forces of the Yugoslav People’s Army in Bosnian Podrinje, in the beginning of April 1992 the 336th Motorized brigade was dislocated from the area of Tuzla and it established its command post in Šekovići, thus becoming the bearer of battle activities and organization of the Army of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in this region, including in its organic composition all Serb armed formations from Zvornik, Kalesija, Šekovići, Vlasenica, Milići, Bratunac and Skelani. In the attacks during which the Serb forces gained control over a broader area of Central Podrinje, and the Bosniak population, which constituted a pronounced majority of the overall population, was suppressed and reduced to three isolated enclaves on the territory of Cerska, Konjević Polje and Srebrenica, the function of leading and commanding these forces, as well as other regular and irregular units which were directed or acted from the territory of Serbia, was conducted by the Operative group “Drina”, a formation under the command of the Belgrade military zone, later the 1st Army of the Yugoslav Army.
In the attacks on the remaining enclaves of Podrinje during the summer and autumn of 1992 the aviation of the Yugoslav Army was employed along with lighter jets of agricultural aviation, as well as artillery from the firing positions of the Yugoslav Army on the territory of Serbia. The contents of the Wance-Owen peace plan, according to which the greater part of the Bosnian Podrinje was supposed to be included into one of the provinces with a Bosniak ethnic majority, which would have spelt the end of the Serb national policy in Podrinje, represented an announcement of a large winter offensive of the Serbian forces.
With a directive issued on 19 November 1992 the Drina corps of the Army of Republika Srpska was ordered to defend Višegrad, Zvornik and the corridor towards Serbia with its main forces, to deblock the communication on the line Milići - Konjević Polje - Zvornik, and to exhaust the enemy on the broader area of Podrinje, inflict upon him as much loss as possible, and force him to “leave the areas of Birač, Žepa and Goražde together with the Muslim population”. On the basis of this directive act, the planned offensive military activities of the Serb forces in Central Podrinje, initiated during November and finished with the agreement on the demilitarization of Srebrenica in April 1993, according to the documents of the Army of Republika Srpska, had three successive phases codenamed: “PROBOJ” (Breakthrough), “PESNICA” (Fist) and “UDAR” (Assault).
Despite the significant engaged forces, the offensive “PROBOJ” did not go according to plan, and in the counterattacks during December the forces of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina liberated a large number of settled places, and until 9 January 1993 gained control over Serb strongholds in the communication region of Bratunac – Kravica, and thus physically connected all parts of the liberated territory. Then a new offensive was launched, codenamed “PESNICA”, which, aside from the stabilization of the Serb defence of Bratunac, did not achieve its stated goals, while on the other side the forces of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina arrived to the part of the state border with Serbia in the region of Skelani. In the final phase of the offensive, that bore the code name of “UDAR”, the Army of Yugoslavia directly joined the fighting in Central Podrinje on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From the direction of Bratunac towards Srebrenica the forces from the composition of OG “Drina” and parts of other units from the 1st Army of the Yugoslav Army were active, which established a command outpost in Ljubovija. In central Podrinje parts of the Special units corps of the Yugoslav Army also operated, and during the offensive they were stationed in the region of Skelani. From that side, from the direction of Skelani towards Srebrenica, the forces from the composition of the Užice corps of the 2nd Army of the Yugoslav Army were also active.
When the forces of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina were suppressed from the larger part of the territory and together with the masses of Bosniak civilians restricted to the broader town area of Srebrenica, the units of the Yugoslav Army could retreat to the territory of their state. The offensive was concluded with the signing of the agreement about the demilitarization of Srebrenica.

This article presents the production of patriotic songs in Sarajevo under siege (1992-1995) and its function, focusing on the function of mobilisation. Mobilisation is understood as an increased activity, on the front line and in the outskirts. At the heart of this article stands an attempt to intertwine the hypothesis – questioning how patriotic songs were used as a means of mobilisation in Sarajevo under siege, the interviewees' words, musical examples and historical facts. Through several musical examples we can sense the division between the “official” and the “alternative” musical scene, development of the re-creation of Bosniac national identity based on Islamic and Ottoman dimensions, transformation of traditional musical genres and the need to express negative feelings.

This article seeks to critically analyse and discuss the implications of the ratio decidendi of the International Court of Justice’s judgment in the Genocide Convention Case. The writer argues that the high standard of proof adopted and the incorrect application of ICTY case law has led the Court to establish an unnecessarily high threshold for the establishment of the dolus specialis for genocide and the subsequent attribution of State responsibility. This outcome makes it difficult to make a finding of State responsibility for genocide, which in turn damages the ability of international criminal law to prevent genocide and deliver justice. The paper also covers individual criminal responsibility, collective responsibility, the impact of the ratio on Darfur and the ICJ’s subsequent decision in the Croatia v Serbia Genocide Convention Case.

Ten years after the publication of the first edition of the monograph “For Sarajevo, For Our Bosnia: From the 13th Novo Sarajevo Brigade to the 111th Knightly Mountain Brigade”, in the year which marks the 25th anniversary of the ending of the war in which this unit of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created, shaped and attained glory on the battlefield, we present you with the second revised edition with an accompanying English translation.
In the introduction to the first edition, which appeared in 2010, after a short review of the state of contemporary Bosnian and Herzegovinian historiography, especially in regard to publications that treat topics from the period of the war 1992-1995, it was emphasized that we understood the invitation of the publisher, the Association “1st Glorious – Knightly Brigade” from Sarajevo, to write the historical monograph on the Brigade as a scientific work, with the utmost objectivity, as an encouraging indication in comparison to the, both then and now, overwhelming domination of unscientific forms of remembrance culture in this field. Post festum, the evaluations from historians and other colleagues who professionally research the war period, the reception that the book has received from its readership, both in the printed run and even more so in the electronic version on the many Internet platforms where it remains available, testify that these positive indications and hopes they garnered were not in vain. To a certain extent, the book contributed to the elevation of professional standards in this type of literature, and the fact that it remains interesting even ten years after its publication, confirms the realization of the intent to have it serve not only a historiographic purpose, but also to be a kind of a memorabilia, a written monument to the exploits of one generation of Bosnian and Herzegovinian patriots.
Aside from the correction of a number of technical mistakes and the rectification of several imprecisions, which are characteristic for the works of the human hand and mind, as well as the inclusion of some additional information in certain parts of the book, the text did not suffer essential changes, not in the narrative which presents historical facts, nor  in the presented scientific conclusions. From the estimation that the scope of the book, doubled with the addition of the translated text, would hinder its legibility and reading functionality, we concluded that the least detrimental move would be to leave out the list of Brigade members which had been given at the end of the first edition. We also attempted to  achieve additional rationalization of the size of the text with an adapted chapter structure and by moving the appendixes to the back of the book. As far as these contents are concerned, the second edition provides somewhat richer documentary materials. The historical maps have also been partially renewed and in most cases graphically redesigned, the amount of war photographs has been increased, with an addition of a number of facsimiles of historical sources on the basis of which the monograph has been written.

The four-year siege of Sarajevo decimated the city. Some 11,000 civilians were killed, 60 per cent of buildings were damaged or destroyed, and 80 per cent of utilities were disabled. When the war ended in 1995, a “triple transition” occurred throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH): the simultaneous movements from war to peace, communism to democracy, and market socialism to a free-market economy. International attempts at physically rebuilding Sarajevo met with some success: the visible scars from the war are largely gone and violence no longer plagues the city. But reconstruction is incomplete and legacies of the war hang over the city.

Polls in BiH reveal a deep disgust with politics and institutions, and there are serious issues with unemployment, inequality, and social reconciliation. Nearly 90 per cent of the country believes it is headed in the wrong direction. The residents of Canton Sarajevo do not feel represented by institutions by a margin of 3 to 1, and a vast majority support political change. The triple transition has been fraught with difficulties. Ethnic divisions are wider than ever. While 88 per cent of the population support better interethnic relations, very little tangible has been achieved in the way of reconciliation. The economy is dominated by criminality and corruption, not by accountable open markets.

These problems stem from the narrow approach taken to reconstructing Sarajevo. By viewing the city largely in physical terms, international and national groups failed to restore institutions, curb corrupt practices, and counter nationalist political movements that benefited from the complex political structures created by the 1995 Dayton Accords. While each city and post-conflict situation is unique, assessing failures encountered while rebuilding Sarajevo offer five over arching lessons for future reconstruction.

1) Reconstruction efforts must be planned strategically to include the many sectors and actors involved in the process. In Sarajevo, the lack of coordination between donors, local government, and residents of the city undermined successful rebuilding.

2) Local institutional capacity must be strengthened before reconstruction begins. Many failures in Sarajevo could have been avoided by having the necessary urban planning, administrative, and governance structures organized during the earliest years.

3) Oversight and anti-corruption measures must be implemented from the start. Recipients and donors must create solid control systems, be willing to hold local leaders accountable, and have trip-wires that trigger the withholding of salaries or aid for large-scale corruption issues.

4) Urban reconstruction must be accompanied by economic growth. Sustaining returnees depends upon accessible jobs and economic growth. Policies should streamline business legislation and make starting an enterprise as easy as possible.

5) Reconstruction must be recognized as an ecosystem. Functional reconstruction of merely physical aspects is insufficient to recreate a vibrant city. Policymakers should seek to also use educational, economic, and cultural initiatives to rekindle urban life.

This report is intended to provide historical background, political and military context, and a summary description of the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 1992 to 1996.  It was prepared for submission to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia as a Statement of Expert Witness Robert J. Donia in Case IT-95-5/18-I, The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić, and admitted into evidence in that case on June 1, 2010. PROSECUTOR V. RADOVAN KARADŽIĆ
UNDER RULE 94 bis




May 2009

events alleged in the indictment in case IT-95-5/18-I, The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić.  This document is a supplemented and updated version of the report that the author submitted in case IT-98-29/1, The Prosecutor v. Dragomir Milošević, under the title “From Elections to Stalemate:  The Making of the Sarajevo Siege, 1990-1994.”  My account centers on developments from November 1990, when multiparty elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH -  Bosna i Hercegovina) brought nationalists to power,  to December 1995, when the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) was signed in Paris, ending the war in BiH.

Umijeće sjećanja (111-123 str.): Heroji oslobodilačkog rata:
Adil Bešić ("Bitke za vječnost i legendu"); Nesib Malkić ("Komandant velike stručnosti i jasne vizije"); Hajrudin Mešić ("Zmaj od Majevice") 
/Korak br.29, god. X, oktobar-decembar 2012. ISSN 1512-9411

Страдање 12 бањoлучких беба никада до сада није био предмет дубљег научног истраживања. Ова тема је сведена на сензационалистичку површност што је довело до тога да се о самој трагедији говори ван историјског контекста. Посљедица тога је била да се у јавности укоријене бројне неистине или заблуде везано за ову трагедију, а било је и случајева да су појединци вјешто манипулисали са овом трагедијом.
У студији се детаљно објашњавају околности које су довеле до хуманитарне кризе у Бањој Луци као и утицај међународних чинилаца. Посебан фокус истраживања био је на стању у самој болници и страдању дванаест новорођених беба у периоду од 22. маја до 19. јуна 1992.  Такође, паралелно се прати и стање на одјелу за хемодијализу Интерне клинике гдје је због недостатка течности за хемодијализу преминуло троје бубрежних болесника. Књига даје и одговоре на бројне контраверзе које су настале због недовољне инфоримсаности о овој трагедији. Управо због тога је и било важно да се прикажу околности и опишу сви сегменти хуманитарне кризе. Веома је важно истаћи да је Србија, односно тадашња Савезна република Југославија била једина која је настојала да помогне. Након што је одобрење за лет стигло, власти у Загребу су условљавале давање дозволе, а власти у Сарајеву нису се удостојиле ни да одговоре. Међународна јавност није показала велики интерес да се криза што прије ријеши.

Посебну вриједност ове студије чине лична свједочења мајки страдалих беба. По први пут се доноси 11 интегралних животних прича мајки од којих њих четири по први пут говоре. Такође по први пут се објављују тачни биографски подаци за сваку страдалу бебу (име и презиме мајке, пол, датум рођења и датум смрти) што до сада није био случај.

Slobodan Milosevic is gone, but he has left in the Balkans a bitter legacy of death, destruction and distrust, and the potential for renewed conflict remains dangerously high. It is vital that there be forward-looking and comprehensive action by the international community to address the continuing sources of tension. Crisis Group’s 350-page report is a comprehensive and up-to-date attempt to map a realistic agenda for achieving lasting peace in the Balkans. The focus is on accelerating political and institutional reform, and addressing – sooner rather than later – the difficult remaining issues of future and final status, and minority rights, that keep holding back stability and economic growth, especially in the troubled Yugoslav trio of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, and in Bosnia and Macedonia.

This report is built on five years of intensive field-based analysis throughout the western Balkans. The policy ideas contained in it grow out of the experience gleaned in the course of writing 140 earlier Balkans reports and briefing papers and discussing them with policy makers in the region and around the world.

U radu pratimo osnivanje i djelovanje Hrvatske zajednice Herceg-Bosne u periodu od njenog osnivanja, 1991. godine u Grudama, do potpisivanja Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma i okončanja rata u Bosni i Hercegovini, 1995. godine. Analizom primarne izvorne građe i do sada neobjavljenih dokumenata različite provenijencije sagledavamo jednu pojavu iz novije historije Bosne i Hercegovine. Radi jasnije i kompletnije slike u rekonstrukciji ovog historijskog fenomena, u uvodnom dijelu rada dajemo kratak prikaz događaja i okolnosti neposredno pred osnivanje HZHB. U prvom dijelu rada naslovljenom Osnivanje Hrvatske zajednice Herceg-Bosne pojašnjavamo ideju, ciljeve i osnivanje HZHB. U drugom dijelu – Formiranje vojnih snaga Hrvatske zajednice Herceg-Bosne pratimo ključne događaje i etape u organizaciji Hrvatskog vijeća obrane (HVO). U trećem dijelu – Djelovanje Hrvatske zajednice Herceg-Bosne nastoje se dati objašnjenja o samoj suštini HZHB i glavne osnove njenog djelovanja u suverenoj i međunarodno priznatoj Republici Bosni i Hercegovini. U posljednjem dijelu − Pravosnažne presude ICTY-a o Hrvatskoj zajednici Herceg-Bosni dajemo kratak uvid važnijih zaključaka iz dosadašnjih postupaka pred Međunarodnim sudom pravde u Den Haagu (ICTY). Kroz cijeli tekst dominanto se isprepliće i prikazuje uloga Republike Hrvatske i njenog predsjednika Franje Tuđmana.
Ključne riječi: Hrvatska zajednica Herceg-Bosna, HZHB, Hrvatska republika Herceg-Bosna, HRHB, 1991−1995, Franjo Tuđman, Mate Boban, Zagreb, Hrvatska, HVO, HV

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Izloženosti, drugo poglavlje dugoročnog, suradničkog projekta WEIYTH - Gdje se sve tek treba dogoditi odvija se u Banja Luci, Mostaru i Sarajevu, kroz izložbu, seminare, radionice i seriju novih produkcija. Projekt je započeo suradnjom Ivane Bago i Antonie Majače s timom kustosica i kustosa (Anselm Franke, Ana Janevski, Vit Havranek & Zbynek Baladran, Erden Kosova, Nina Montmann, Jelena Vesić) koja je rezultirala izložbom Možeš li govoriti o tome? – Da, mogu u Banja Luci 2009. godine. Potaknuta temeljnim konceptom projekta WEIYTH koji propituje pitanje zajednice i imaginacije budućnosti, prošlogodišnja je suradnja kroz umjetničke i kustoske pozicije predstavljene na izložbi otvorila niz podtema koje su odredile i usmjerile daljnji razvoj projekta: pitanje suradnje, suučešništva, artikulacije traume, pitanje egzila i povratka, politike sjećanja, politike jezika, kulturalizacije politike i politizacije umjetnosti.

Ta su pitanja ove godine postala temeljem začetka novih suradnji, kroz okupljanje grupa i generiranje novih, privremenih zajednica umjetnika, teoretičara, studenata i kustosa te potaknule stvaranje novih vokabulara i konstelacija koji zajedno čine Izloženosti, drugo poglavlje projekta. Poput prvog, i ono je, prije svega, zasnovano na inzistiranju postavljanja pitanja: "Možeš li govoriti o tome?", pri čemu potvrdan odgovor upućuje prvenstveno na prihvaćanje odgovornosti kroz artikulaciju i propitivanje pozicije svih sudionica/ka u odnosu na društveni i politički kontekst u kojem se odvija čitav projekt, kao i u odnosu na same pojedine teme koje se kroz njega problematiziraju. Projekt okuplja umjetnike, filmske i kazališne redatelje, i intelektualce koji se u svom radu problematiziraju neka od brojnih aspekata traume raspada Jugoslavije: rat, genocid, rasap socijalističkog ekonomskog i političkog sistema, tranzicije u 'divlji kapitalizam', uništena ekonomija, perpetuiranje rata 'drugim sredstvima', kao i utjecajem koju ovi rascjepi i katastrofe imaju na najmlađe generacije, koje su odrasle u strahu i zazoru prema etno-konfesionalnom Drugom.

Prihvatiti poziv na sudioništvo u kustoskom, umjetničkom, teorijskom i transformativnom traženju, i poziv uputiti drugima, značilo je emancipirati sam proces traženja, istovremeno prisvajajući izloženost stanju radikalne neizvjesnosti. Značilo je, za sve uključene u proces – organizatore, kustosice, sve pozvane autore/ice i brojne učesnike i učesnice - pristati na stanje, i akciju, beskompromisne izloženosti: izloženosti raskolu između očekivane reprezentativnosti projekta koji se naziva bijenalom i odluke da se istraži upravo kako jedan takav projekt može subvertirati imperativ spektakularnosti i reprezentativnosti; gdje je 'umjetnost' kao materijalni rezultat tek od sporedne važnosti u odnosu na procese političke subjektivizacije i artikulacije odnosa između svih koji su, i koji će biti - uključeni u
proces; izloženosti, prije svega, jednih drugima.



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Exposures, the second chapter of the long-term, collaborative project Where Everything Is Yet to Happen takes place in Banja Luka, Mostar and Sarajevo taking the form of an exhibition,as well as a series of seminars, workshops, and new productions. The project was initiated by a collaboration with a team of invited co-curators (Anselm Franke, Ana Janevski, Vit Havranek & Zbynek Baladran, Erden Kosova, Nina Montmann and Jelena Vesić) which resulted in the exhibition Can you speak of this? – Yes, I Can, in Banja Luka in 2009. Incited by the WEIYTH's underlying concept of a prospective rethinking of the notion of community, the artistic and curatorial propositions delineated in the first chapter opened up a set of topics, designating the course of the further development of the project: the issues of collaboration, complicity, articulation of trauma, exile and return, politics of language, politics of memory, culturalization of politics and politization of art.

These topics became a base for initiating new collaborations, gathering groups and constituting temporary communities of artists, theoreticians, activists, students and curators, in a process of creating new social and creative platforms generating new vocabularies that together form Exposures, the second chapter of the project. Like the first one, it keeps insisting on the question: "Can you speak of this?", where an affirmative answer points first of all to an acceptance of responsibility to articulate and question one's own position in relation to the historical, social and political context the project is set in, as well as in relation to particular topics it addresses. The project gathers artists, film-makers, and intellectuals who in their practice, deal with some of the many aspects of the trauma of the break-up of Yugoslavia: war, genocide, dissolution of the socialist economic and political system, transition into 'wild capitalism', destroyed economy, perpetuation of war 'by other means', as well as the influence of these dissolutions and disasters on the youngest generations, informed by fear and abjection toward the ethno-confessional Other.

Accepting our invitation to participate in this long-term curatorial, artistic, theoretical and transformational quest, and addressing the invitation to others, has emancipated the very process of searching while embracing the exposure to a state of radical uncertainty. For all involved in the process – organizers, curators, participants, guests and public – it has meant accepting the state (and action) of exposure without compromise - exposure also to the gap between the public's expectations formed by dubbing the project a 'biennial' and the decision to question exactly how such a project can subvert the imperative of spectacularity and representation; where 'art' as material product is secondary to the processes of political subjectivization and articulation of relations between all who have been, and who will yet become, involved in the process – exposure, most relevantly, of one to each other.

Given that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian diaspora represents one type of the promoters of Bosnian-Herzegovinian culture, this paper aims to review interliterary processes and intercultural permeations within cultural associations of Bosnian-Herzegovinian diaspora, which are characterized as diasporic identities for the purpose of this paper. Namely, the Diaspora itself offers a view from the outside through an individual/artist as well as through groups/associations that will be included in this study. The theory has shown that the best intercultural processes take place in the „space between“, and that they are best implemented far from „centres of power“. Activities within these associations show that culture better exists far from the national interweaving and political interferences. Expected results of the study (which are also the hypotheses of the paper) can be summarized as follows: raising awareness of intercultural processes outside the Bosnian-Herzegovinian interliterary community helps its better understanding; a more intense involvement of the Diaspora in the official Bosnian-Herzegovinian culture is preferable; an openness to foreign modern and practical solutions, as well as their applications in domestic practice, is necessary. Ultimately, conclusions are drawn that Bosnian-Herzegovinian diaspora is not only a promoter of Bosnian-Herzegovinian culture (its cultural traditions), but also its currently most productive creator.

During the Balkans conflict of 1992-1995, the Bosnian town of Srebrenica was declared a UN Safe Area in 1993, under the watch of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). In July 1995, General Ratko Mladić and his Serbian paramilitary units overran and captured the town, despite its designation as an area “free from any armed attack or any other hostile act”. In the days following Srebrenica’s fall, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were systematically massacred and buried in mass graves. Thousands of women, children and elderly people were forcibly deported and a large number of women were raped. It was the greatest atrocity on European soil since the Second World War. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled that the mass execution of Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica constituted genocide.  The Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, officially known as the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide, is the memorial-cemetery complex established in lower Potočari,  Srebrenica to honour these victims. 11 July  2015 was the 20th Anniversary of the Genocide against Bosniaks in “UN Safe Haven” Srebrenica and the commemoration took place in the aforementioned memorial site. The commemoration was commonly attended by various parties consisting of relatives of the victims; statesmen, bureaucrats and militarymen from various countries; members of the international community in BiH; members of local and  international  media, etc. My personal experience of the event allowed me to form certain questions regarding the varying patterns of consumption of the memorial site by varying parties: Do our motivations  for visiting a memorial site reveal themselves in how we visit them? It was striking for me to observe the difference in the visit/consumption of the memorial site by varying parties and to be able to read certain agendas via their participation in the commemoration. This work is an attempt to analyze the commemoration for the 20th Anniversary of the Genocide against Bosniaks in “UN Safe Haven” Srebrenica  via its participants and the memorial site via its visitors in the light of personal observation.

It is known that the cultural legacy, traditions and behaviors, the knowledge which has been drawn from experience, historical events in collaborative memories are archived in folk songs which are a part of the oral culture. Therefore one of the functions of the folk songs is to pass down the knowledge from generation to generation. The knowledge about the oral culture in the texts of the folk songs has a place in the collaborative memory. Due to its features, the folk songs have the characteristics of a rhythmic archive and it is possible to achieve folkloric and historical data through folk songs. In this study, the “Türki-i Bana Luka Kal’ası” folk song which includes a part of the Bosnian history has been analyzed as an oral history document and the traces of Turkish history in Bosnia in the framework of this document has been discussed.