The photographs on display in Srebrenica in 2007. Only Bosnian Serbs lived in Srebrenica in the years after the 1995 massacre, but a growing number of Bosnian Muslims are returning. Many residents – Serb and Muslim – took pictures of themselves and their surroundings as part of the Srebrenica Civil Presence project. The aim was to bring ethnic groups together and lessen tension in the town.
The Department Store. Slobodanka worked as an accounts cashier at the wood factory in Potocari before the war. She says: “Every weekend I would spend my wages at this department store. There was an insurance and construction company, a lift, central heating and a supermarket in the basement. Now I could cry when I look at it.”
Srebrenica
Serb photographer Vesna took a picture of a wedding because it represents “something so bright in what still is a very dark situation”. Vesna is herself married to a Bosnian Muslim.
Razija, Refka, Hatidza and Hajra meet most days to talk and knit. They were among the first Bosnian Muslim returnees to Srebrenica after the genocide and are typical of those that have so far come back: older widows living alone, with their families scattered around the world.
Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebrenica
A neighbour. Nevresa says this picture shows a “cute girl who is happy and smiling”. “Today there are not many happy people, but she is happy because she has not met the pain that life can bring.”
Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebenica girl with photo
Our exhibition and a series of events entitled Srebrenica Now was held in July 2005 to mark the 10th anniversary of the genocide in the town during the war in Bosnia. This took place at the (now closed) Salon des Arts, Queensgate, London.
We staged Srebrenica Now in partnership with the photographer and researcher Philippa Harrison, the Dutch Bosnian NGOWerkgroep Nederland Srebrenica, BH Community UK and the Srebrenica Justice Campaign.
Srebrenica Now presented photographs from the town taken a decade after the genocide (July 1995). Serbs and Bosnian Muslims in the town took pictures to reflect their lives in the aftermath of violence. For many, it was the first time that they had worked together.
