BETWEEN FIXITY AND ABSENCE Representation of the in visual art and its influence on the art scene

Laura Van Den Bosch

Master thesis

East-European Languages and Cultures 2013-2014

Promotor: prof. Rozita Dimova

August 2014

Words of appreciation

My initial interest in Bosnia was sparked following a visit to in 2012 with a group of students of the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language course. After yet another visit to Bosnia in 2013, it was clear that Bosnia had captured my attention provoking conflicting thoughts, dilemmas and most of all inspiration and mystery. Arguably, the recent war contributed to this attraction. But I was also captivated by the lively atmosphere and beauty of the country which mixed with its history, and the visible remnants of the turmoil during the war, made this country truly fascinating to me. Having developed profound interest in art for some time now, and having followed art courses at the university to broaden my knowledge about visual art, I approached the task of my MA thesis with a determination to combine these two sincere interests.

I would not have been able to finish this intense work without the help of various people.

In the first instance, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to professor Rozita Dimova for the invaluable advice, suggestions and inspiring discussions.

Furthermore, I would like to thank the artists and curators who were more than willing to cooperate and share additional information. I really enjoyed catching a glimpse of their fascinating world. A special thank you to Šejla Holland, Anela Hakalović, Tarik Samarah, Radenko Milak, Milomir Kovačević, Dean Zulich, Damir Radović and Pierre Courtin.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Frederik De Roeck, Mahbir Thukral, my parents and my friends for their continuous support. In difficult moments, they were the ones who encouraged and advised me. Thank you!

Image on front page: Radenko Milak, 02. April 1992, Bijeljina, .

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Summary in Dutch De Bosnische oorlog vond intussen bijna 20 jaar geleden plaats en had een enorme impact op het land en zijn inwoners. Ook de kunstwereld werd echter in sterke mate beïnvloed door deze tragische gebeurtenis. In deze thesis wordt dit laatste aspect verder uitgediept. Er zal in de eerste plaats gekeken worden naar hoe de oorlog tot nu weergegeven is in drie artistieke stromingen: schilderkunst, fotografie en grafische ontwerpen. Elk werk wordt op zich geanalyseerd: er zijn immers telkens andere invloeden te vinden. Later duiken er verscheidene andere vragen op die gekoppeld kunnen worden aan de weergave van de oorlog. Is kunst een manier om de oorlog te verteren? Kunnen artiesten zich losmaken van hun verleden door de kunst? Dit kunnen we proberen onderzoeken aan de hand van twee hedendaagse tentoonstellingen die recente werken tentoonstellen: Memory Lane en Bosnian Born. De thesis is concreet gestructureerd als volgt. Als inleiding op de analyse wordt er uitgezocht hoe het begrip ‘oorlogskunst’ kan opgevat worden. In de geschiedenis werd oorlog vooral weergegeven door middel van schilderkunst. Hier kunnen we een evolutie zien van een klassieke weergave over een meer realistischere tot een abstracte weergave. In latere, technisch meer geavanceerde tijden gaat fotografie aan belang winnen. Oorlogen zijn sindsdien veelvuldig vastgelegd door middel van fotografie. De eigenlijke analyse bestaat uit vier delen. In het eerste deel wordt de representatie van de Bosnische oorlog in de schilderkunst besproken. Aan de hand van drie schilders en vier werken wordt er aangetoond hoe de oorlog hier weergegeven wordt. In het volgende onderdeel wordt de oorlog de fotografie besproken. We stellen hier vast dat er niet één manier is om een oorlog vast te leggen via fotografie. Ook het onderwerp van de foto’s kan zeer uiteenlopend zijn. In het derde deel van de analyse komt de meer abstracte vormgeving aan de beurt. De oorlog is immers niet alleen weergegeven via rechtstreekse representatie. Door middel van abstracte beelden, woorden en ook graffiti worden ook betekenissen op een ander niveau overgebracht. Bij elk van deze drie weergavemogelijkheden worden er in de masterproef algemene tussentijdse conclusies gegeven die de kenmerken van de weergave identificeren. Het vierde deel van de analyse staat in contrast met de voorgaande delen. Hierin wordt duidelijk gemaakt hoe de oorlog aanwezig is in de institutionele Bosnische kunstwereld en hoe dit tot uiting komt in de hoofdstad Sarajevo. De kunstwereld is slachtoffer geworden van de politieke problemen. Hierdoor zien we dat er in het artistieke milieu bijna geen ontsnappen meer is aan de oorlogsthematiek. Als contrast hiertegenover wordt de tentoonstelling Bosnian Born geplaatst. In tegenstelling tot het overheersende oorlogsthema, wordt hier een positiever beeld geschetst. Hoewel de tentoonstelling enkel Bosnische artiesten exposeert, kunnen we hier een grote afwezigheid van het oorlogsthema opmerken. Door enkele werken te analyseren, tonen we aan op welke manier het mogelijk is voor Bosnische kunstenaars om hun aandacht op andere zaken te richten.

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Als conclusie kunnen we stellen dat de Bosnische oorlog op zeer verschillende manieren is weergegeven. Invloeden van vroegere kunststromingen zijn in elk onderdeel van dit onderzoek te vinden geweest. Ondanks deze verschillende weergaven en stromingen kunnen we een algemene typologie geven van de representatie tot nu toe. sluiten elkaar echter niet uit. Zo is het mogelijk dat één werk in verschillende categorieën kan worden geplaatst of dat twee categorieën versmelten in één werk. De eerste mogelijkheid is expliciete weergave. Hierin vinden we de werken die de oorlog rechtstreeks tonen, zoals de foto’s die genomen zijn tijdens de oorlog. Niet alleen foto’s zijn hier te plaatsen. Ook schilderijen hebben de mogelijkheid om de oorlog rechtstreeks weer te geven. De tweede mogelijke weergave is niet- expliciete weergave. Hierin zijn de grafische werken en de graffiti te vinden. Dit toont ons dat er, buiten de directe weergaves, ook een andere weg mogelijk is om de oorlog weer te geven. Dit vaak door betekenissen die verborgen zijn achter een abstracte weergave die vraagt om meer informatie. Een derde manier om om te gaan met de oorlog is de niet-weergave ervan. Door zich ertegen af te zetten, zijn deze artiesten er toch nog mee verbonden. Ze maken echter de keuze om zich te concentreren op andere onderwerpen in hun kunst. De vraag hoe artiesten 20 jaar later omgaan met de oorlog kan bijgevolg op verschillende manieren beantwoord worden. De tentoonstellingen Memory Lane en Bosnian Born, die beiden nog dit jaar plaatsvonden, tonen dat er verschillende mogelijkheden zijn. Enerzijds zijn er artiesten die de oorlog nog steeds weergeven. Anderzijds zijn er deze die focussen op andere onderwerpen. De redenen voor deze keuze kunnen zeer verschillend zijn en afhangen van persoon tot persoon. Hoe de Bosnische kunstwereld zich verder zal ontwikkelen is niet duidelijk. Enerzijds valt het af te wachten hoe het op institutioneel vlak zal evolueren en hoe kunstenaars nog zullen omgaan met hun situatie. Anderzijds weten we niet of het oorlogsthema nog steeds een onderwerp zal blijven in de kunst.

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Table of contents

Words of appreciation ...... I Summary in Dutch ...... II 1. Introduction ...... 1 2. War art ...... 6 2.1 War art: what does it look like? ...... 6 2.1.1 Classical depiction: evolution of the war theme in paintings ...... 7 2.1.2 The 19th century: Goya ...... 9 2.1.3 The twentieth century: Picasso ...... 11 2.2 What is war painting? ...... 13 2.3 Different forms of expression in later times ...... 14 2.3.1 The rise of photography...... 14 2.3.1.2 Photography to capture wars ...... 15 2.3.2 The use of other media ...... 16 2.4 Starting the analysis ...... 16 3. The Bosnian war represented in painting ...... 18 3.1 War painting from a distance and yet close: Peter Howson ...... 18 3.2 Painting the suffering homeland: Safet Zec ...... 21 3.3 Bringing the past into the present: Radenko Milak ...... 23 3.4 Conclusion on war painting ...... 25 4. The Bosnian war represented in photography ...... 27 4.1 The dangers of Sarajevo ...... 29 4.2 The hopes of Sarajevo ...... 31 4.3 Silent death captured in a photograph ...... 32 4.4 Burning history: Milomir Kovačević ...... 35 4.4 Conclusion on photography ...... 36 5. The Bosnian war in graphic representation ...... 37 5.1 War depicted in graffiti: United Nothing ...... 37 5.2 Šejla Kamerić: the power of a picture ...... 38 5.3 The influence of Pop art: Andrej Đerković ...... 40 5.4 Damir Radović: depicting trauma ...... 41 5.5 Conclusion on graphics ...... 42 6. The absence of war representation: the immense contrast ...... 44

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6.1 The significance of absence ...... 44 6.1.1 Institutional situation ...... 44 6.1.2 Visible precense of the war ...... 45 6.2 Bosnian Born ...... 47 6.2.1 Ivan Hrkaš: identity shift ...... 48 6.2.2 Ina Soltani ...... 49 6.2.3 Jewellery ...... 50 6.2.4 Surrealistic photography ...... 50 6.4 Conclusion: war vs. absence ...... 51 7. Conclusion ...... 53 8. Bibliography ...... 56 9. Appendix ...... 63

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1. Introduction

From 1992 until 1995, the country of Bosnia and Hercegovina (hereinafter simply referred to as Bosnia) suffered from one of the longest and most renowned wars in recent history. The capital city of Sarajevo was besieged from the 5th of April 1992 onwards, when the Serbian army occupied its international airport. The Siege went on for 1425 days (Sadiković 2012). This experience has unavoidably left an imprint on every aspect of the city’s rich urban life during the four years of conflict but also in the period thereafter1. To this day, the war is regularly commemorated through the staging of concerts, exhibitions and different events. A vivid example of such commemoration was the Sarajevo Red Line on the 6th of April 2012. The main street of Sarajevo, Ulica Maršala Tita, was filled with 11541 red chairs, each one marking the citizens killed during the . Six hundred and forty three of these chairs were children’s seats, each for a child whose life was lost in the war. This commemoration to mark the 20th anniversary of the siege was called ‘Sarajevska Crvena Linija’, the Sarajevo Red Line. The memorial event was confronting and painfully present in the city that day. The empty chairs were testimonies to the lost lives, and they made people realize, and recall once again, how many people had actually died during this war. International media were also present in Sarajevo that day with the task to broadcast and present the commemoration to the rest of the world (Sadiković 2012). Performances and events such as this commemoration embody the assurance that the war would not be forgotten. Alija Behmen, the mayor of Sarajevo, pointed out that

Obilježavamo 20 godina najduže držanog opkoljenog grada u Evropi. To može biti sad floskula, ali izgleda moramo stalno ponavljati kako bismo sačinili kulturu pamćenja onoga što se dogodilo, sa namjerom da širimo mir, da širimo svijest Evropi, koja je zakazala u tom momentu, i da agresorima kažemo zaista ono što se desilo. Oni to znaju, ali pokušavaju redefinirati historiju2. (Behmen cited in Sadiković 2012)

He stresses the essential dimension of commemorations: the need to keep on showing what really happened in order to not only retain the memory but also the truth alive. This task of artistic representation – to revive and deal with the memory and the truth – is the cornerstone of this thesis. I will continuously inquire into the intention and determination of various artists

1 According to Hawton (2009), Bosnia-Herzegovina had a population of 4 million people at that time 2 million of them were made a refugee because of the war. 2 “Let us celebrate the 20th anniversary of the city that is kept besieged for the longest time in Europe. This can now seem only a phrase but it seems like we have to keep on repeating how we should form our culture from the memory of what happened, with the purpose to spread peace, to spread awareness across Europe, that is set up in this moment and to say to the aggressors what happened exactly. They know what happened but they try to redefine history.”

1 to deal with the memory of this war, and to grasp the truth of what took place in the past, and what is occurring in the present. For, it is my contention, that many artists regardless of their age, and experiences during and after the war, inevitably are affected by the trauma of the war, and continuously revisit the subjects of memory and truth of the war in their work. Bosnia did have a rich cultural life before the war but in those days, the country was not as known in the world as it is now (Lovrenović 2001). The war changed this:

Before the war, Bosnia was relatively unknown in the world stage. But war and media coverage and the extremity of suffering by the Bosnian people in town and village have (however unfortunately) made the country one of the best-known places in the world. Many leading European and world journalists, historians, writers and others suddenly became interested in Bosnia, resulting in important books and articles in English, German and other languages. Texts by Bosnian writers were translated. (Lovrenović 2001: 213)

The war has caused great changes in several areas: on its people and population, on ways of life and interaction among neighbors and also on the field of arts. Not everyone accepted the country’s misfortune passively during the war: many decided to flee the country, settled abroad and built their lives there. But many decided to return and rebuild their lives in post- war Bosnia. These struggles for home abroad, or back in Bosnia, feature prominently in the artistic and cultural production of many Bosnian artists and in many artistic genres3. Hence, the following analysis will be based on the work of several artists who deal with the war, the memory of the life prior to and during the war, at the moment of displacement, and the aftermath “rehabilitation” period through the idiom of visual arts. This thesis does not intend to prove that the war changed Bosnia, Sarajevo, and its art scene. This is a self-evident fact. A 44 month long siege is bound to have a huge impact on the physical surroundings and the people, Rather, I want to analyze how artistic visual representation has been displaying the war, and also to investigate the explicit absence of the war in art works. Broadly speaking, this analysis will focus on the changes engendered by the war in the 90s in an attempt to disentangle the ambiguous relationship between war and the art scene in Bosnia. To be more specific, my main task will be to examine how the fighting that occurred from 1992 until 1995 influenced the art scene, particularly in the domain of visual arts. In other words: how the influence of the war has been displayed. I will focus on three essential genres of visual art: paintings, photography and graphics. The decision to focus on visual arts and on these three idioms stems from both pragmatic and also aesthetic incentives. The comparative aspect of these genres allows me to construct several sections in my analysis that are intertwined, and also to illustrate and support my arguments. By

3 In literature the most prominent writers from Bosnia who deal with the topic of home, Bosnia during and after the war, and displacement are Alexander Hemon, Milenko Jerkovic and Dzevdad Karahasan. In film the most prominent directors who have addressed this topic are Denis Tanovic, Pjer Zalica, Jasmila Žbanić and many others.

2 contrasting the realism, symbolism or expressionism in different paintings, photographs and graphics, I attempt to tackle the aesthetic form in which the artist conveys his or her intentions. The works analyzed in the following pages are created by artists who have different attachments to Bosnia and Herzegovina: some were born in Bosnia which was part of until 1991. Some of them lived through the war, left during or after the war, remained in Bosnia or returned afterwards. Others do not have a natural connection to Bosnia but decided to devote their artistic attention towards it. In terms of temporality, I will focus not only on the war time period but also on its aftermath. By stretching the analysis to contemporary times, and including a 2014 exhibition, I intend to assess how artists deal with the consequences of war 20 years after its occurrence. Does the time distance affect the visibility and the presence of war in contemporary work on and from Bosnia? Do artists tend to move beyond the need for dealing directly with the war, and the traumatic events that took place within their own lives? In addition to the art works themselves, I will also attempt to situate the art scene nowadays. By giving an overview of institutions that are affected by the war, I will make a contrast to the institutional aspect of art and argue that while some institutions survived and others did not, Bosnian art is still very alive, albeit with different institutional attachments. Another question that I am set to investigate however is connected with the Bosnian artists today. We will see if the theme of war is something that shapes the experiences of artists for an extensive period of time. When and how do artists become detached from the explicit representation of the war in their work? If yes, what role does time play in this detachment? While fully aware that we do not have methodological means at our disposal that measure artistic (or any other human) experiences, I will attempt to provide symbolic/semiotic reading of the works analyzed in this thesis, and make a conclusion on the influence the war has had on visual art in Bosnia during the past twenty years. In contrast to the political side of the war, books on the artistic and cultural aspect of Bosnia are scarce. The preliminary research revealed an obvious absence of literature which examines the Bosnian war through the lens of the art scene, and with its cultural and artistic implications. Despite (or because of) the absence of research on this theme, I decided to take up the challenge and attempt to provide a more general overview of the artistic display of the war which extends right up to the present-day. Only recently (2013), the first essay on contemporary Bosnian art and its legacy as related to the war was written by Jon Blackwood. I relied on the work by Laura Brandon, Art and war (2007) since it is one of the few books that deal with the pair that is at the center of my inquiry, namely war and art. Her work even addresses the Bosnian war if only briefly. The most available analysis was on the subject of photography and war, although the Bosnian war also did not receive significant attention. I therefore base the theoretical framework of this thesis on articles and books on general art

3 theories to create an analytical paradigm, from which has allowed me to formulate my own interpretation on this topic. As for the primary material for the analysis, I also encountered numerous difficulties in selecting the works and images available primarily on internet. Given the vast amount of visual and graphic art produced on the war, I plunged into an arduous process of screening and selecting the pieces that are most relevant for my thesis. My personal input is injected in the analyses of these works: in the previously mentioned art classes, a certain structure was taught to analyze works by focusing on content and form. A description in itself is often subjective and the nature of the images in this context does not make it any easier. Although I will try to accomplish this task in a manner as objectively as possible, I acknowledge that the objective/subjective dichotomy is not always the most helpful but rather, when I analyze the artists’ positions and decisions, as well as my own interpretations, the dichotomy should be treated as mutually entangled and overlapping. The emphasis will be placed on the depiction of events. However, these events need to be placed in its political context to understand the meaning. This is why I used articles and general information on the events appearing in the photographs and the paintings. This is part of my strategy to keep a critical lens in this analysis necessary when analyzing art, and especially when analyzing images that cannot be taken as truth and for granted. I expand my investigation on several recent cases, which means that the analysis relies on interviews and personal communication with people who curated and staged the most recent exhibitions. The opportunity to contact several artists and curators allowed me to go beyond the photo and bypass the limitations of seeing the image without complements of the information by the artist or curator himself/herself. For example, Šejla Holland, the curator of the Bosnian Born exhibition, was happy to provide me information on the exhibition and the artists as well as various galleries in Bosnia. Ms. Holland was a great help for providing information and allowing me to use the material. I did get the chance to visit two other exhibitions. My choice of some works was a direct result of an earlier visit (in September 2013) to the Galerija 11/07/1995 in Sarajevo with its provoking permanent exhibition, and which was also sparked the initial incentive to write on this subject. Furthermore I also visited the temporary exhibition Memory Lane which took place in during the months June and July in 2014. Adopting this method of informal online interviews and personal contacts is facilitated by social media in these technologically advanced times. Artists and curators recommend their works and exhibitions on Facebook and share news about them. In this way, I was aware of new developments and recent activities in the Bosnian art scene, both in Bosnia and other countries. We will commence by constructing a historical oversight of the representation of war in different art forms. By selecting and analyzing some representative works by various artists in various time periods and art movements, we will formulate some general conclusions, which

4 will answer the question on how to define war art. Secondly, we come to the concrete analysis. The analysis itself will be structured as follows: the first part will focus on painted representations of the war. Secondly, we will discuss photographic art depicting the war. Subsequently, we will focus on graphics representing the war theme. Contrasting the previous subdivisions, we discover the possibilities of the absence of war. We will formulate conclusions separately for each part, in order to construct a general typology of representation as an answer to the various related questions posed.

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2. War art

2.1 War art: what does it look like?

Walking through museums, we always pass by some paintings connected with the war theme. This theme can appear in numerous ways. At first, we need to define what ‘war art’ could be, if it is to be defined in the first place. As was said in the introduction, literature on this topic is limited and this is why I used a limited combination of credible art books on this theme like the books by Brandon, Foster and Facos who will be repeatedly named in this chapter. When we hear the term ‘war art’, it gives the impression of being made during the war. This is possible but not necessary to get the mark of ‘war art’. According to Brandon (2007), it is the art which is ‘shaped by war’. This means it can be made at the eve of a war, during the war or in the aftermath of a war, many years after the actual events themselves. The period in which the war occurs does not have a huge impact on the production in the sense that there is always a certain production of art when people are affected by an event. Of course we can see a great difference between paintings made on the occasion of ancient battles than paintings depicting more recent wars. The implementation of the feelings evoked by war have changed over the years. It is clear that people sometimes need it to digest certain events and it has always been like this. War art has existed for as long as war have been fought. “The evidence for war art’s existence lies in the paintings, drawings and sculptures about brutal conflict that date from the beginning of civilization to the present day.” (Brandon 2007: 3). There has always been a ‘reason’ for the existence of war art. Brandon also specifies this: “The chronological span of war art is enormous. War is part of the human condition, and as long as humans have created works of art, they have depicted this aspect of their lives and deaths. Some of the greatest masterpieces have emerged from some of the most brutal events in history”. Since it is in the nature of people, war art has existed for a long time and will continue to prevail. We will analyze some works which can show what war art is and if it is a strict genre with characteristics who have to be always there. Or is it a broad movement in which only the subject is fixed? To analyze concisely yet clearly, four painters from different time periods and different countries who painted war sceneries are chosen. The first painter is Peter Paul Rubens, a Flemish seventeenth-century painter who painted morbid events in a classical way. His contemporary Nicolas Poussin created two versions on the ancient story of the rape of the Sabine women. These are two painters who worked in the same time period but possessed contradictory ideas of art. The third painter is Francisco Goya, a late 17th century, early 18th century painter who was affected by the Spanish Civil War and has reflected this in his works. The last one is Pablo Picasso. His Guernica is one of the most renowned war paintings in the world.

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2.1.1 Classical depiction: evolution of the war theme in paintings

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1660) and Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), the first two painters who will be described, are two artists who lived in more or less the same time period and circumstances. Although war can be depicted cruelly and with grotesque vividness, Ruben painted in a quite classical and symbolical style, which was typical for that time. While both Rubens and Poussin lived during the same period, Poussin had another style of painting and thinking about art. They both painted a work based on an ancient Roman story, The Rape of the Sabine women4, Poussin even painted two (Badt 1969). To have a good comparison between these two famous painters, we will analyze both of these paintings. Two paintings concerned with the same theme will clearly show the differences and similarities. Poussin is a key figure in the French Classicism of the 17th century56. His two interpretations of this story are currently to be found in different cities. The first version is called The Abduction of the Sabine Women, painted around 1633-1634 and is now displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York7 (Image 1). The later version is called The Rape of the Sabine Women, painted circa 1637-1638 and now exhibited in the Louvre8 (Image 2). Because of their location, the works are respectively called the New York version and the Paris version. By analyzing two works created a few years apart, we can see how the painter injected new life into his compositions. The two versions include more or less the same content: Romulus signifying the abduction, women and men struggling and in the background, we see the struggle and chaos going on. A striking difference between the two is in the architecture: in the Paris version, the architecture is drastically more elaborated and prominent than in the New York version. Poussin depicts the moment where Romulus, the founder of Rome, gives the order for abducting the women. He raises his cloak to give the preassigned signal. The two paintings are very dramatic with a great attention to the expression of the faces. Although Poussin was a Frenchman, he had not spent his career in France. He had worked and lived in Rome where he was influenced by ancient works and the Renaissance style (Facos 2011: 32). This explains his interest in antique, theatrical subjects, which is to be seen in the architecture. The architecture creates a historical environment and is therefore used as a ‘stage’. In this kind of historical paintings, Poussin made the expressions

4 The story is shortly described by Brandon (2007: 28): The subject is a mythological event from just after the founding of Rome. In need of women to populate the city, Roman men abducted a number of nearby Sabine women. This open breach of the rules of hospitality horrified the Sabines, who went home to prepare for the war with Rome. When they later returned in arms to take back their women, the Sabine women, who had by now reconciled with their new husbands, prevented the battle by placing themselves between the two armed groups. Ultimately, the two peoples made peace. 5 To keep the text orderly and easily readable, references to the mentioned well known museums will be put in footnotes. 6 The National Gallery, London. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/classical. Consulted on 29/03/2014. 7 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the- collections/437329. Consulted on 26/03/2014. 8 , Paris. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rape-sabine-women. Consulted on 26/03/2014. 7 of passion subordinate to the arrangement of the figures. Hence, the expressed posture and gestures we see on the paintings are typical for Poussin9. For example: in the Paris version, we clearly see two diagonal lines starting from both sides of the painting towards the gate in the middle of the scene which makes the work more dynamic10. In the New York version, we can see the same: two diagonal lines at the forefront. Poussin was interested in making compositions by painting bodies in motion. According to Blunt (1958: 131) , the whole space is formed by the architecture which is amassed by struggling groups. These groups are brought into harmony by a careful balancing of movements, like the diagonal lines. When we look at the bodies of the people, we see that Poussin painted them after ‘ideal bodies’ of men and women of that time, as we can see in sculptures too. According to the Louvre11, the theme of abduction was popular in the sixteenth century for a reason: It allowed male and female bodies to be merged with one another, […] but also enabled a variety of expressions to be depicted and, especially in painting, to give an impression of crowds and panic. So it was a theme rich in opportunities for three-dimensional effects achieved through the interaction of solid objects with the surrounding space. The great attention to anatomy, architecture and clothing makes his war scenes convincing yet very thoughtful. He left nothing to coincidence. The Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens’ version of the rape of the Sabine women is to be found in the National Gallery in London (Image 3). Although Rubens was 20 years older than Poussin, they painted this theme around the same time. Rubens painted it around 1635-40 (a few years after Poussin). At the forefront, the same story from Poussin’s works takes place: we see Romulus at the right side, giving his sign for abducting the women. However, there are two stories in this painting. In the background, we see the sequel of the fight: the Sabines returning to Rome after a few years to take revenge but are again defeated12. Just like in Poussin’s work, the painted architecture is classical. Between the clothes worn by the characters and the architecture, there is a huge contrast. The men are dressed in Roman style so this corresponds with the setting. The women however are dressed in 17th century Flemish dresses. This is a great difference between Poussin and Rubens: Poussin lived in Rome so he took elements of the original context (like the Roman dresses) to integrate in his work. Rubens incorporated elements from his own environment in his painting but its entirety is within an ancient context. The whole painting creates, just like Poussin’s versions, an impression of chaos through all those intertwined bodies and numerous different expressions on the character’s faces.

9 Additional information to the study book provided by professor Jan Muylle (UGent) in the course Fine Arts I in 2013. 10 Louvre, Paris. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rape-sabine-women. Consulted on 16/03/2014. 11 Louvre, Paris. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rape-sabine-women. Consulted on 16/03/2014. 12 The National Gallery, London. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/peter-paul-rubens-the-rape-of-the- sabine-women. Consulted on 28/04/2014.

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We could say that these paintings reflect more or less the same ideas, except for some differences. Yet, those two painters, were standing at the basis of a “struggle” for a particular style in the 17th century: named the ‘Querelle du coloris’13. This was based on two concepts: ‘disegno’ and ‘colorito’, the Italian designation of drawing and color. Since the antiquity, there had never been a discussion on the function of drawing and color. These only appeared as stages in the production of a painting. It was not until the middle of the fifteenth century, when the controversy started. Suddenly, entire discussions were held on colours and lines. The pictorial theories would prioritize these elements for the proceeding 300 years. In these paintings on the topic of Rape of the Sabine women, this tendency is remarkable. We clearly see strong lines in Poussin’s works while Rubens’ painting is presenting a vague atmosphere. This is because Rubens considered the role of colours more important than that of lines. With this notable difference, we see the evidence for the possibility of giving one subject in the same time period a whole other view and dimension because of a simple discussion on lines and colors.

2.1.2 The 19th century: Goya

To have another idea of how war can be presented through art, we make a leap forward in time, to 19th century Spain. The Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746-1828) started his artistic studies at the age of fourteen and was, after some initial assignments for king Carlos III, was appointed Court Painter. Goya painted everyday situations, in contrast with the solemn subjects dominating French painting during the same era. For example: at that time, many people had alcohol problems since their employers compensated their workers with alcohol. The workers, eager to forget about their miserable lives, used alcohol as a flight from the real life (Facos 2011:87). Goya was not afraid to portray these harsh conditions. This shows that, although Goya was a court painter, the possibility for selecting a subject matter was greater in comparison to Poussin’s time, when temporary subjects were not appropriate and had less standing than classical subjects. While Poussin and Rubens painted classical, historical and mythological themes, Goya depicted the reality of the present time.

13 This was the basis for the ‘Querelle du coloris’: the one group thinks that what precedes the painting process (the idea in the mind of the artist) is the most important. This idea or concept is called the disegno interno. This will be materialized in the drawing which is called disegno externo. So drawing was more important than the process of painting. In Rome, Florence and Tuscany, this vision predominantly ruled the art. The focus is on the act of painting. Drawn studies were less important. This was the beginning of the Querelle du coloris. The actual discussion took place between adherents of Poussin on the one hand and adherents of Rubens on the other hand. Named Poussinism and Rubenism, they correspond respectively with disegno and colorito J.A.D. Ingres led the Poussin faction, which upheld eighteenth-century, Neoclassical ideas about ennobling subjects, restrained expression and color, compositional clarity, and a highly detailed, brushless technique. Eugène Delacroix led the Rubens faction, which promoted Romantic ideas about freedom of expression within the confines of the five subject categories (history, portraiture, genre, landscape, still life). Poussinistes privileged drawing and intellect; Rubenistes, colour and emotion. (Facos 2011: 272)

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Another characteristic of Goya’s work is social criticism. He painted standard works of the royal family like Family of Carlos IV (1800-01) through which he seems an obedient and objective painter. However, in Los Caprichos, a series of 80 prints, Goya satirizes “corruption, ignorance, materialism, superstition, and vanity, as well as the oppression of Spanish peasants by the Roman Catholic Church (the Inquisition, with its executions, was in full swing) and the government (Facos 2011: 90)”. By depicting temporary situations, Goya enlightens us of his personal opinions of particular topics. However, he could not paint every event right away. The painting that Goya did not make until 1814 was The Third of May 1808. This is because he lived in a politically turbulent time period:

Progressive Spain intellectuals initially welcomed Napoleonic rule with the liberal reforms it promised, but they soon learned that the military regime led by Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte (1808-14) governed as mercilessly as had the royal family and inquisition. On 2 may 1808, the Madrid populace rioted against French forces. French General Murat ordered the streets cleared, but the angry inhabitants refused. Murrat rounded up everyone carrying a weapon and some 1000 “insurgents” were executed on the 2 and 3 of May. Carlos IV abdicated on 5 May 1808 and lived in exile in Bayonne, France where Napoleon ensured his safety. Goya dared not paint these events until the restoration of Fernando VII in 1814. (Facos 2011: 92)

In The Third of May 1808 (Image 4), Goya shows one of the executions, ordered by general Murat. We notice a lot of people, placed into two groups: on the left, we see Spanish citizens from Madrid, these so-called “insurgents”. On the right are the perfectly dressed French forces, placed with their backs to the viewer. The French are no longer a group of people but are depicted as an efficient killing machine targeting the Spanish victims14. The victims are waiting to be executed. Goya uses a proto-cinematic composition here: one observes the before, during and after in the ordeal of the martyrs which “heightens the pathos by showing emotional extremes of such an experience along with its pointless outcome (Facos 2011: 93)”. The emotions are indeed transferred effectively by expressions and gestures: the fact that we already see dead bodies lying against the living victims, makes us realize that this will also happen to the people in the middle who are clearly afraid while praying or covering their faces. Especially the faces of the group in the middle are visible: one individual is praying, the second has a frightened look on his face and the man in the white shirt looks as if he accepted his fate and surrenders. Facos (2011: 92) interprets the central character: “The central victim raises his arms in a gesture of capitulation that simultaneously echoes the posture of the crucified Christ and of Saint Francis receiving the stigmata”. This implies the portrayed status of a martyr to the central person. According to Facos (2011: 92), The Third of May 1808 revealed the heroic tragedy of ordinary individuals compelled by circumstances beyond their

14The scene is set on the Principe Pio hill in Madrid against a real background where you can see the Prado Nuevo Barracks (who are not there anymore) and the Doña María de Aragón Convent near today’s Plaza d’España. Prado, Madrid. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/pradomedia/multimedia/the-3rd-of-may-1808-in- madrid-the-executions-on-principe-pio-hill/. Consulted on 15/04/2014.

10 control into the role of political martyrs.” The scene is set in the night and the only light is artificial. The central victim is illuminated by the lamp which we see placed in front of the firing squad. In this way, the emphasis is placed on him. Our eyes are immediately drawn towards the victims and not towards the anonymous firing squad. In this way, Goya made a historic painting that revealed the victimization of helpless citizens in wartime. It is highly probable that Goya also painted from his own experiences. He lived during the Napoleonic occupation and since he is a Spaniard, he must probably have stood at the side of his own country and people. This is the feeling transferred through the painting to the observer : it is portraying the French as an image of evil killers while the Spanish people are presented as innocent victims. Rather than depicting an event which took place some hundreds of years prior (like Poussin and Rubens), Goya painted an event which was in his recent past as well as within the painter’s own environment. He succeeded in creating a horrifying atmosphere and transferred the emotions of war into this simple yet thoughtful composition of people.

2.1.3 The twentieth century: Picasso

While Goya is an example of nineteenth century war art, Picasso gives a twentieth century example with his Guernica, painted in 1937 (Image 5). Picasso was a Spanish painter, born in 1881 and one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century. The Guernica is one of Picasso’s most famous works15. After a first glimpse, the painting looks like a major chaos composed with a lot of stripes and distorted figures. It represents a war scene which took place in Picasso’s own environment. He lived, just like Goya, in a turbulent time period in terms of politics: fascism rose in Spain, Italy, the USSR and Germany16. Picasso was already a famous artist in that time. He was even the symbolic director of the Prado Museum in Madrid. When Guernica was bombed on the 26th of April in 1937 by the German Condor Legion, Picasso made a protest-painting on behalf of the Republican cause and painted it in six weeks (Foster 2011: 309). The content of the painting is difficult to describe. The colour scheme consists of black, white and shades of grey in between. A few faces however, are clearly not drawn in accordance to anatomical studies and are noticeable: the fear is to be read easily in their expression. The figure on the left is a woman screaming because of the deceased child she is carrying in her arms. Next to this woman, another figure is lying on the ground while

15 Its monumental size is remarkable (349x777cm) and is now to be found in the Museo Nacional Centro de arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. http://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/guernica. Consulted on 26/04/2014. 16 “In February 1936, the Popular Front won elections in Spain; in July, General Francisco Franco led an army revolt; and three years of civil war ensued between his Nationalists (Mostly army, Church, and industrials) end the Republicans (mostly Socialists, Communists, anarchists, and liberals, supported by Basques and Catalans). Hitler and Mussolini aided the Nationalists actively, while Stalin supported the Republicans weakly.” (Foster 2011: 309)

11 screaming. This is someone who fell wounded on the ground during the bombing. The center plan of the painting is not entirely clear: we see a horse, a lamp, an arm holding a candle light. A lot of lines are drawn here, evoking a feeling of chaos and despair. A woman, recognizable by her deformed body parts, is walking on the right. Probably she is trying to flee but she is wounded. Above her, we see a face of another woman who is also trying to flee. At the very right, a woman is falling from a burning building. The flames are abstractly displayed. Objectively seen, the painting shows a fight in a war with people struggling. We also see a light, a bull and a horse which do not necessarily have a meaning at first glance. In the dark, we also see a bird. In addition to what the observer sees, the work seems to have a deeper significance:

The huge painting shows four women in terror: one falls from a house in flames; two others flee distorted by fear; the fourth cradles her dead child and screams. A dismembered soldier lies on the ground, while a horse cries out in agony and a bull stares us in the eye. These animals attest to the bestiality of the bombing, but in this world turned upside down they also possess a humanity that seems stripped from the humans here. Picasso holds all this debris together by a pyramidal massing of figures and a muted range of blacks, whites and grays. But his genius is to transform his own modernist inventions of Cubist fragmentation and Surrealist distortion into an expression of outrage: this is modernist art in the service of political actuality. A response to the Nazi bombing, a riposte to the Nationalist accusation that the Republicans had defiled “the artistic treasures” of Spain, Guernica also defies the mythical histories of totalitarian regimes, and rebuts the reactionary beliefs that political art can only be social realist and that modernist art can never be public. Here modernism is reconciled with referentiality, responsibility, and resistance. (Foster 2011: 309)

After picking up this information, this significance rises to the surface. In these types of works, it is more difficult to clearly see everything involved with the naked eye. In paintings like the ones of the rape of the Sabine women, you can see what is taking place. Apart from some occasional symbolic elements, the story is clear when you look at it. In Guernica, this is different. We need to search for the meanings. The animals who show the brutality of the bombing are showing Picasso’s position in the whole event: he is clearly against what happened and by showing the horror of the event, he wants to transfer his opinion. As said above, Picasso is using his (Modernist) art in the service of political actuality, and is choosing a side within this political debate. The way Picasso is depicting a war is totally different from the previously described paintings. He used forms and motifs which are typical for Cubism. This means everything is depicted abstractly. It is definitely clear that the figures we see are people. However, they’re not drawn the way you would expect according to the history of painting. This is an entirely different style of painting to that of Goya. Goya still respected the real shape of things and landscapes while Picasso makes his own town; his own Guernica in his painting. Although we do not see perfectly shaped human beings, the work provokes strong feelings. The pain and

12 panic in the faces is shown, just like the overall panic in the town. Picasso proves that a painting does not need to be Neoclassical and Realistic to shock the viewer. Picasso painted it in six weeks. Hence, the event was still very fresh in the memory of the people who saw the painting during this time. This would present an extra element of shock in itself. The town was still to be built up again, people were still mourning their dead family members,… While Goya waited 8 years to paint The Third of May 1808, Picasso uses the time element to make it more shocking. Consciously or unconsciously, this made the effect stronger anyhow.

2.2 What is war painting?

Art history thus reveals that war was one of the central motives in paintings. But can we put the mark ‘war art’ to it? As we could see by analyzing various works of art, originated from different countries, different styles of painting and different artists, there is not a consensual definition of a genre, “war painting”. War is such a universal theme which makes it impossible that ‘war art’ could be a genre with limited characteristics. Although, some characteristics do stand out in the analyzed work. The subjects of these paintings have changed over the years. While Neoclassical painters preferred mythological or historical subjects, Picasso painted happenings from his own life that he saw with his own eyes. Goya did his duty as a court painter by painting the royal family but outside of that, he also painted the war events taking place during that time. Both of these painters where greatly influenced by the turbulent political situations of their era. There is not a ‘right way’ to paint a war. Poussin and Rubens made this clear: although they lived in the same time period, they showed the same subject in a different way and we cannot say that one interpretation is more significant than the other. The same for Goya and Picasso: they each paint in their own way (for example Cubistic like Picasso) but this does not matter when portraying messages of war, pain and fear. They all succeed in their dramatistics in their own way. Like Picasso showed, the time period in which the artist makes or releases the art work, does have a meaning or a feeling in itself. A work exhibited a few months after the real events will be more shocking than of a painting showing a battle from a long time. This is often the case, and not only apparent in art. People talk more easily about an event when it is already a few years ago rather than when it has recently taken place. If the ‘fuss’ around an event is cooled down, people will be less shocked to see it again. The intention of an art work can be very different. While Poussin definitely did not want to make a statement with his works, but just wanted to show his skills, Picasso did make a statement. Guernica is clearly a work of protest and has an anti-war meaning. Some art does intend to make a statement and other do not, just like the difference between Poussin and Picasso.

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2.3 Different forms of expression in later times

Painted representations of war were soon to be complimented by new phenomena. Other media were to be used due to new developments in terms of depiction.

2.3.1 The rise of photography

Photography was a scientific invention from the 19th century (Swinnen 1992). Already before its development, people felt the need to capture images: “Photography, defined alternatively as documentary and as an art form, emerged at the crossroads of art, science, and technology. It developed from a desire for a precise copy of the natural world, a desire that emerged during the Renaissance, when attention shifted from spiritual to natural phenomena” (Facos 2011: 194). For the first time, paintings and drawings were not the only possibilities to record both history and the present day. According to Scheps (cited in Museum Ludwig Cologne 1997: 4), painting was initially pushed back because of photography:

Door de ‘objectiviteit’ van het fotografische beeld ging men aanvankelijk twijfelen aan het beschrijvende vermogen van een schilderij. De fotografie leek onbevooroordeeld tegenover de werkelijkheid te staan. Fotografen bewezen eer aan de banaliteit van het dagelijkse leven. Ze hadden de behoefte om een totaalopname van deze wereld te maken, ze wilden een oneindig aantal beelden in ons gemeenschappelijk megageheugen opslaan. Het maken van een schilderij, een langdurig creatief en additief proces, kon plotseling worden vervangen door een betrekkelijk kort optisch-mechanisch en chemisch proces. De foto vormde aanvankelijk geen bedreiging voor de schilderkunst- een foto was immers steeds zwart-wit en in zijn weergave beperkt door de lichtsituatie en de mogelijkheden van het objectief. 17

Around 1900, the processing of film and camera -as well as the progress made in the area of mass reproduction- boosted advertising and journalism (Brown 1971). This was because of a technique which was invented in 1878: the autotype. This allowed images and text to be produced at the same time, which gave an impulse to the press photography (Swinnen 1992). After this, photography became a mass product: pictures could be multiplied and spread beyond borders throughout the world.

17 Because of the ‘objectivity’ of the photographic image, people initially started to doubt the descriptive power of a painting. Photography seemed to confront reality unprejudiced. Photographers honored the banality of everyday life. They felt the urge to make a total recording of the world and wanted to store an infinite number of images in our common mega memory. The making of a painting, a long creative and additive process, could suddenly be replaced by a relatively short optical-mechanical and chemical process. The photo was initially not a threat to the painting: a picture was, after all, still black and white and was limited by the light-situation and the possibilities of the objective. 14

2.3.1.1 Photography as art

It is clear that photography was important to the media. But what about photography as an art form? The line between ‘ordinary’ photography and art photography is rather thin. For Scheps (1997: 5), this distinction is to be situated around the turn of the century: “Aan het begin van de 20e eeuw groeide de overtuiging dat de fotografie een zelfstandige kunstvorm geworden was, met een geheel eigen esthetiek.18” Brown (1971: 31), as an art historian, believed that artists were not satisfied with the traditional concepts and limits of art. Art with a capital A as he called it, which means an elite, refined art. Dissatisfied with the traditional concepts and limitations of art with a capital A, many artists turned their backs to it and searched for significance in the popular, less refined, more vulgar and commercial forms of communication. Before the Second World War, artists experimented with photography and an audience for these kinds of expressions emerged in this period. Yet, it was not considered an art form yet. This changed around 1960 when artists like Andy Warhol and Gerard Richter began to focus on photography and its characteristics, and used it as an inspiration for their works (Museum Ludwig Cologne 1997). Later on, an explanation will be constructed on how we can distinguish regular photography and art in connection with the Bosnian war.

2.3.1.2 Photography to capture wars

Amidst the changes in use of media, we can see it being used to capture war as well. Photography was undoubtedly used because of its documentary character. Crimes and key moments in history were captured. Nowadays, war images of these events are widespread to be found. In the 21th century, on a daily basis, we are as well confronted with this through newspapers and television news items. According to Batchen et al. (2012), photographs have been taken of numerous battles or crises in various time periods. In their work, it is proven that photography was used to grasp war scenes from the end of the 19th century. The Holocaust produced pictures of both victims and perpetrators. Later on, another aspect of the Second World War was captured in pictures when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. From the Vietnam war to the more recent war in Afghanistan: the list of wars photographed is too long to enumerate. Also, the characteristics of war photography are not to be grasped in a clear evolution as we observe in painting. Rather, this evolution lies in the progress of the medium photography: “ and war photography has evolved to lengths unimaginable to history’s first photojournalists. From smaller format film, to color images and digital cameras, to mobile photography, the transformation of the medium of photography

18 At the beginning of the 20th century, the belief grew that photography had become an independent art form with its very own .

15 is only accelerating. (Kashi 2013)”. Various kinds of war photography have existed simultaneously: pictures of soldiers, victims, battles,… In other words, aspects that are present in every war. Since a war photographer does not have the choice which colours to use, which lines to depict, this evolution as in painting is not evidently clear or even non-existing. As a result of the historical meaning of the events, several of these pictures have become iconic. The mushroom cloud which was derived from the atomic bombs, Kim Phuc running away after being hit by napalm in the Vietnam war,… According to Jünger & Nasser (1993), these photographs can be useful to those who did not experience the war as a compliment for written descriptions. Indeed, this means we can create an image of the war several years later by combining various forms of documentation. This will be the case in this research.

2.3.2 The use of other media

It goes without saying that painting and photography are not the only media in which war appears as a subject. However, this media does not have extensive history. Especially from the beginning of the 20th century, we can acknowledge a distinct tendency towards abstractionism in art history. We could already see this in Picasso’s Guernica. Artists strive to grasp the essence of reality in their works of art instead of depicting it perfectly. We can see this evolving in painting through Cubism (Image 5), Avant-garde art movements like Dada (Image 6), Surrealism (Image 7) and colourfield painting (Image 8) (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). Graphic representations are undeniably a consequence of this tendency. Events will be captured in taglines, abstract poster representations and (photo)collages. Since these are a part of the representation of the Bosnian war, it is justified to mention them here as a type of display. Since there is no “general theory” of this section, we will analyze the works in this category each separately in the actual analysis. We can see which aspects of this abstractionism were influential and how war can be transferred through this medium.

2.4 Starting the analysis

After having discussed these manifestations of art, it is clear that we cannot encase art connected to war into a little box. Nor can we find it in one genre and medium. ‘War art’ is a collective noun for all creative works that have to do with war. It contains elements from very different genres, brought together in a work to transfer a war message. “While changes in artistic practice play a role, war art, more than any other subject of art, is hostage to events that do not relate to changes in materials, the move of an influential artist from one locale to another and influential styles” (Brandon 2007: 4). Sometimes it is used to digest an event and at another time, to make a statement. Another possibility is to simply show an element of a war, without an additional message. So it is difficult to sum up every characteristic of war art

16 since it is not a real compact genre. As Brandon (2007: 5) says, is it “far easier to discuss the sort of art that war inspires than to fit into a genre within the traditions of art history and artistic practice”. Therefore I will analyze the works which have been influenced or made because of the Bosnian war like single artworks which have their own meanings and manifestations. Also, they may be influenced by other, long established or rather recent art movements.

A work of art, regardless of medium, that deals with war is undoubtedly war art. Nonetheless, art history’s qualitative standpoints complicate even this conclusion. Looking at war art as just art is extremely limiting. A formal analysis that focuses on a piece’s approach, subject, and meaning marginalizes the reasons for its existence and ignores the ways in which viewers receive it. Assuming that there is something that in some collective way is war art, a far more useful approach looks at the context of its creation and at the meanings that have become part of it. These angles encompass the input of both artist and viewer. However, the findings of any such study are, by definition, time-specific and subject to change. (Brandon 2007: 5)

In this way we will analyze the works in the following chapter: by not only looking at the artistic characteristics of the art works but also placing them within their contexts. How a work can be perceived and how it fits in the spirit of the age will be equally important as the features of the works themselves. First, painting will be discussed. Consequently, photography and graphic representations. As a second segment of the research, the absence of the war theme in art will be discussed. In this way, we can get a concrete answer to the question how the war is being displayed and what its influence was.

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3. The Bosnian war represented in painting

Since the Bosnian war took place in an era in which technology was already fully developed, it is a logical consequence that a mass of images of this conflict can be found. While searching for these on the Bosnian war, it is strikingly clear that painting was not an important form of expression. It became evident that the vast majority of images are photographs. In contrast to photographers, painters have the complete freedom to express an event in the way they want to. Therefore, we cannot quote a general painting technique or theory here. The basic influences on artists’ work are to be found in various art movements. This is why we have to focus our attention on both the subject and the form through which it is shaped. By searching for the meanings and the underlying anecdotes behind the works, we understand why it is depicted like this. In this way, the works can be connected to various art movements. Although they are not a major part of the existing visual art, paintings on the war theme do exist. This chapter includes some selected works who manage to express the war in that sense they can mean something to the war and fulfill a certain function. Three painters are involved: the Bosnian painter Safet Zec , the Scottish artist Peter Howson and the contemporary Bosnian painter Radenko Milak.

3.1 War painting from a distance and yet close: Peter Howson

The painter who is most to be found in connection with the Bosnian war is Peter Howson. This section is named ‘war painting from a distance’ because this artist is not a Bosnian like Zec, who will appear later. Howson is a Scottish painter who was commissioned in 1993 by the British Imperial War Museum as an official war artist capturing the Bosnian War (Brandon 2007: 96). His works are rough, confronting and very realistic in terms of subject. ‘Realistic’ is not just a word connected with everything that can be ‘real’ but a whole art movement. Hemingway (cited in Beaumont 2007: 105) puts realism like this: “The formulation of realism as a critical concept in painting, as in literature, had begun in France in the 1830s, and, in relation to both, it stood for an art grounded in the direct observation of natural and social realities rather than one based on earlier art.” One painter from this period who had an influence on Howson was Gustave Courbet (1819-77) (Berkoff 2005). In the 1850’s, Courbet shocked the Parisian salons with his paintings of prostitutes and peasants. He depicted the life of that time as it was, without lively colours and hidden truths (Facos 2011). According to Hemingway (cited in Beaumont 2007: 108), “Courbet broke with the essentially timid political perspective of literary realism and of most contemporary pictorial realism in his large-scale representations or ordinary people drawn from the ranks of the rural bourgeoisie and peasantry, painted in the unflattering manner of provincial portraiture.” In this undisguised showing of the truth in direct images, we clearly see Courbet’s influence on Howson. The difference between them is that Courbet painted scenes that he saw in his daily

18 environment. Howson, as a Scottish war artist commissioned to depict the Bosnian war, needed to move to the crime scene to witness it. And so he did: he went to Bosnia to relocate to the place of conflict. However, he did not use the inspiration from what he saw but from what he heard: the rumoured atrocities like rape. This caused a public debate because war artists were considered to be eyewitnesses. Many people thought that they should depict the truth as it is. Howson defended himself by saying that at least half of the paintings hanging in the British Imperial War Museum were not based on events the artists had actually witnessed (Brandon 2007). In that time, widespread rape was still a rumour. Now that we know it really happened, we can see Howson’s paintings through a different prysm and as a depiction of realistic events:

Both Amnesty International and UNHCR confirm that sexual violence was used by all religious and ethnic groups, but it’s used particularly by the Serbs against the Bosnian Muslims. The UNHCR estimates that 35000 women in Bosnia were the victim of sexual abuse. The precise number will never be known: a lot of women prefer to remain silent about it. Also many women were killed after being raped (Hodgson, 1995, Nahoum-Grappe 1997, cited in Withaeckx 2004: 11).

The events depicted in his paintings really took place, and Howson reported subsequently that he even received death threats from Croatians who denied the reality of these depictions. Why did Howson assume that this was the truth at that time and why did he want to reproduce this scene? Did he want to make this taboo subject public? In an interview with the magazine State of Art, he explained why he chose this theme. In his youth, the painter was sexually abused and this is why he thinks the sexual aspects of war are very energizing. As he says and as we could see in the introduction on war art, rape in art is often depicted quite glamorous (Berkoff 2005). In The Rape of the Sabine Women by Poussin, the figures are elegant and sophisticated. Although the despair on their faces is clear, it does not give the shocked feeling you get by looking at Howson’s rape paintings. In his painting called 2 become 1 (Image 9), we see a Muslim woman being raped by a Croat. This is a truly violent scene that shows one of the horrors of the war. The theme is realistic but the rendering isn’t: the figures are painted very large and exceptionally muscular. Limbs are depicted unproportionally. The rapist is the one who is the most visible, although we see him from the back with the legs of the woman around him. His head is turned a bit so we can see his eyes, which is an unnatural posture. It seems like he is not human at all. In the back, we see the woman’s face that has the same eyes as the rapist’s. These eyes give the feeling of absence. The observer on the contrary, feels very present. It gives the feeling as if he or her is a witness of this scene but he or she cannot do anything and feels horrible by the witnessed circumstances. Because this is the feeling you get: there’s nothing hidden. As Brandon (2007: 97) puts it: “there is no escape for victim or viewer”. This is definitely true. There’s no way to put this scene in a more positive light. Berkoff (2005) said in an interview with Howson that many people admire the rape painting.

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It is a hard, yet successfully painted event which makes you think about the crimes committed in the war and why they could happen on such a large scale. Howson depicted yet another rumored war atrocity: one that is even less known than the rape occurrences: the castration of men. During the war, Serbs set up concentration camps in Bosnia for Croats and . These camps were to be found in several places through the country, which names are now connected with the horror just like Sarajevo’s connected with the start of the First World War. Human rights watch described the events in a report19. This is the event that is depicted in the painting Plum Grove (Image 10), created in 1994 by Howson. The origin of the title is indistinct. It seems like the scene is not set in a concentration camp. Nevertheless, the subject is recognizable. We see a man hanging from a tree in a disturbingly strange position. It is not clear from the painting whether he is dead or alive because of his invisible face. When we look closer, we can see his leg and arms are hung up by one rope in a painful position. The scene is even more disturbing when we focus on the children who seem to be carefree playing around the suffering man. A crow is sitting on his upper hand. In the background, a few houses are to be seen. A man seems to be working on the roof of his house. These elements cannot tell us where the event is situated. Opposite from the harsh scene, the colours of the surrounding nature are very vivid and stand out. We can see that the brushstrokes are applied aggressively, which corresponds to the scene. This is a typical characteristic of expressionism and also to be found in the influence the German painters Max Beckmann and Otto Dix had on Howson (Berkoff 2005) who both depicted vividly and fascinating war scenes from the First and Second World War. As in 2 become 1, the body parts are depicted out of proportion in this scene. This creates a greater expressiveness, especially to be found in the hands. According to the Tate museum20, where the painting is exhibited, the painting combines scenes Howson witnessed during his period in Bosnia with Croatian accounts of the treatment of their men by Muslim captors. This is what we see and what has been confirmed by Human Rights Watch: the castration of men. The man’s trousers have been pulled down and we can see that his testicles have been cut off. The painting is striking because it is so obvious what has been done to him. Knowing this really happens makes it a powerful expression of cruel events.

19 Human rights watch explains the situation (cited in Srebrenica Genocide Blog 2008): After the Serbs took power on April 30, 1992, they opened at least four detention camps in the Prijedor opstina. Two of the concentration camps, Omarska and Keraterm, were places where killings, torture, and brutal interrogations were carried out. The third, Trnopolje, had another purpose; it functioned as a staging area for massive deportations of mostly women, children, and elderly men, and killings and rapes also occurred there. The fourth, Manjaca, was referred to by the Bosnian Serbs as a "prisoner of war camp," although most if not all detainees were civilians. According to a final report of the Commission of experts, there have been, in addition to the numerous rape rates, “instances of sexual abuse of men as well as castration and mutilation of male sexual organs.” (citing UN report in Srebrenica Genocide Blog 2008) 20 Tate Modern, London. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/howson-plum-grove-t06961. Consulted on 28/06/2014.

20

After taking a look at the shaping of the paintings, we have to look at what is important in the depiction. Predrag Finci, who wrote on the relationship between art and the Holocaust, puts truth above beauty (1993: 34):

„Čitanje slika” implicite potvrđuje da se njihovi analitičari prema njima odnose prije kao prema dokumentima, kao prema „iskazima“ i „porukama“, nego kao prema artefaktima. Nužni povratak narativnog u slikarstvo narušio je estetski zahtjev za „čisto likovnim“. Presudni interes u svakom istraživanju jeste istina. I u artističkom pristupu Holocaustu se potvrđuje da je istina iznad „ljepote“, jer historijski istini- to određuje šta je događaju primjereno djelo.2122

Finci here describes a standard for displaying war or atrocity scenes. The most important thing according to him is showing the truth and not the aesthetics. In this way, Howson follows this statement. By deforming the eyes, faces and body parts of his painted figures, he neglects the aspect of beauty in his works. Although he did not witness the events himself, the viewer is confronted with the truth that the paintings properly relate to the reality. Hence, we can see them as a document, even, an accurate report of situations that had occurred during the war. Howson depicted this in his very own style. By focusing on the content rather than on the form, we can say that Howson does not at all connect with the traditional depiction of war by Poussin and other classisistic painters but rather with the 19th and 20th century war art. In terms of conveying the message, we can see that less „pretty“ pictures are much harder. Paintings that originate in the Realistic movement can have a harder, and more intense impact on people. When we compare the classicistic paintings of Poussin with the Realistic figures of Courbet, we can tell that rough images are much more striking in depicting reality than stylized ones. As Courbet showed malpractices of that time in his paintings, Howson showed atrocities of the Bosnian war. Both he and Courbet painted the ugly things in life. Howson’s paintings thus go back to the tradition of Realism.

3.2 Painting the suffering homeland: Safet Zec Howson is the artist who is most associated with Bosnian war painting. However, a unilateral image from the view of a western painter is not representative. By including Safet Zec in this topic, we can offer the reader a different perspective and show ‘the Bosnian side of the story’. Zec is a Bosnian painter born in 1943 who completed an art education in Sarajevo. He is an artist who painted and exhibited long before the war and long after the war (Zec 2014). In

21 The “reading of a paintings” implies the confirmation that their analysts relate to them rather as documents, as “expressions” and “messages” than to artifacts. The needed return of the narrative in painting detract from the aesthetic requirement for “pure art”. The crucial interest in each research is truth. Also in the artistic approach to the Holocaust, is being confirmed that truth stands above “beauty” since the historical truth determines what is the appropriate measure to depict certain events. 22 This “reading” means that the painting will be closely analyzed. This will also be mentioned with photography in the next section. 21

1992, Zec moved to Italy and therefore did not experience the war in its entirety, but was nonetheless influenced by it. This becomes clear in his series of paintings called Srebrenica23. Referring to this massacre, Zec painted serene and painful works. The series consists of eight works (Filipović 2014), all composed from a dark colour palette with occasionally lighter accents, which enlarges the contrast. In all of the works we see desperate people or fragments of people in an empty space without a real background. What stands out is that Zec often paints hands, demonstrated in the painting Hands on the face (Image 11), referring to this subject. We see an old woman holding her hands in front of her face. The wrinkles on her forehead are clearly visible. The combination of the dark background and the white scarf results in a chiaroscuro24 effect, which makes it more dramatic. As we said before, Howson is to be placed in the tradition of Realism. Zec can definitely be added to this genre as well. In Hands on the face, he shows an immense sadness which is not at all idealized but depicted as it was. The ‘ugly’ things in life are not erased: the wrinkles and the age of the hands are right there. Zec clearly had a great attention to anatomy. He explained to the New York Times that he started drawing these arms and hands because of the war (cited in Morris 2010): “In a strange way the war did me a favor. It returned me to my artistic roots. I went back to figure drawing, doing details of hands, limbs, feet”. The scene is a depiction of real life as it is still today when remains of victims are found and buried on the 11th of July each year (in 2014, 19 years after the events, still 175 victims are buried (NOSb 2014)). Since the majority of killed people were men and boys, this painting is a typical image of a mother crying and mourning over her deceased man or son. Zec here depicts an anonymous type of mother and wife. It shows the real suffering which is still going on. The painting is, according to Safet Zec (2014) made in 2003. This means it was not made right after the events. However, it was from then on until now always applicable to the current time. This because, as said above, this situation is recurring every year. Having described how the scene is depicted, we have to ask the question why was it done in this way. Unlike Howson, Zec had not chosen the war scene as the main subject but rather the emotional consequence that originated from it. This makes his paintings emotionally charged. Another difference between them is that Howson showed true events happening in that time while Zec painted the rather emotional side of war which is universal and lasts until today. The explanation for this focus on the emotional aspect is to be found in the fact that

23 8 To fully understand these paintings, we need to recapture shortly what happened in 1995: On the 11th of July 1995, Serb Forces killed 8372 (the confirmed number of killings until now, Galerija 11/07/1995 2014) Bosnian Muslim boys and men in the area of Srebrenica a town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in July 1995. In addition to the killings, more than 20,000 civilians were expelled from the area—a process known as ethnic cleansing. The massacre, which was the worst episode of mass murder within Europe since World War II, helped galvanize the West to press for a cease-fire that ended three years of warfare on Bosnia’s territory. However, it left deep emotional scars on survivors and created enduring obstacles to political reconciliation among Bosnia’s ethnic groups (Smith 2014). 24 Also called clair-obscur: a distinctive colour contrast between light and dark colors.

22

Zec is a Bosnian himself who had lost people who were dear to him and had to fled his own country during the war (Morris 2010). Howson on the other side was a foreigner who only spent a limited period of time in the war area and did not have family or other bonds with the country. This difference in involvement is to be sensed in their works.

3.3 Bringing the past into the present: Radenko Milak

The contemporary Bosnian painter Radenko Milak25 drew his inspiration directly from the war by indirect observation. He created 24 paintings (2008-2010)26containing the same image called 02. April 1992, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The individual canvases construct a larger whole through their composition27. We see the depiction of a soldier, casually holding a cigarette, who is about to kick a woman lying on the ground, head down. The contrast between the powerful soldier and the helpless victim is the most prominent aspect of the image. Spectators who are familiar with photography of the Bosnian war can recognize this being one of the most publicized shots made (Image 13). The influence of this picture on Milak’s work is undeniable. Milak here used the technique of appropriation which arose from the emerge of photography. The German painter Gerard Richter is the most known artist who used this technique. He drew his inspiration from the popular visual culture in the 1960’s. After selecting images out of books and newspapers, he created the painted version of them. However, he made changes to the actual image through his paintings. Through this appropriation of images, we reach the painted version of the particular photograph: photo

25 Milak is one of the artists exhibiting at the Memory Lane exhibition which I visited in July 2014. An introduction on this exhibition is needed to give the reader an impression of the environment in which the works were displayed. The exhibition Memory Lane is organized by the Galerie du Jour Agnes B. in Paris, which is dedicated to contemporary art. Memory Lane was held from the 7th of June until the 26th of July 2014. It wants to show the visitor an impression the contemporary art scene in Bosnia nowadays. It is striking that almost all these works are made in the last 10 years and the majority even in the last 5 years. Although this is very recent, the general theme of this exhibition is still the Bosnian war. Since the title of the exhibition is Memory Lane, we can assume that this is precisely the intention of the exhibition: to keep on remembering what happened. This is reflected in the quote which decorated the poster of the exhibition: “Un people sans mémoire est un people sans avenir ”. The importance of memory is stressed in the additional information connected with the exhibition: “Personal or collective memory is the point of convergence where questions are raised, where certain answers confront each other, where certain words, images and ideas are born, where the meaning of memory surfaces, the mening of concrete documentation material comes to life and emerge as the building blocks of metaphorical balance sheet of the current state of affairs”. The exhibition is in Paris but not entirely organized by Parisians. Pierre Courtin is the initiator who was invited by the Galerie du Jour. He is indeed a Frenchman but he is also the director of the Duplex 100m² gallery in Sarajevo, which is an active contemporary art gallery, like the Galerie du Jour. This exhibition brought Bosnia into a French spotlight. Many French articles are written about it. In this research, some of the works exhibited at Memory Lane will be discussed. In this way, we involve more recent works as well. 26 Information provided at the exhibition. Milak confirmed that the number 24 does not have a special meaning in this case. However, he explained that 24 is the number of images that makes one second of animation in a film. Artists often used this 24-images rule in film. Information provided in personal communication on 3/08/2014. 27 Seen at the Memory Lane exhibition in Paris at the 22th of July 2014. The individual paintings’ dimensions are 40x60cm. The total work’s dimension is 385x175. 23 painting. This means the painting gets an increased photographic effect (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). Milak can be considered an adherent of this genre, which was called Kapitalistischer Realismus in the 1960’s (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). As Richter did in that time, Milak took a photograph as subject of his paintings approximately 50 years later. The image we see here through the paintings is taken by Ron Haviv, an American photo-journalist reporting on the conflict28. It is an iconic image which often returns while summoning the Bosnian war. Haviv was the direct witness of this crime that took place in the beginning of the war29. Milak on the other hand was not. He chose to reproduce this picture as a basis for his work. The position of the 24 paintings is overwhelming. While being in front of the work, there is no way to avoid the scene which is revealed 24 times in the spectator’s face. Milak did not have to think about compositions etc. since he had the picture as a guiding line. This does not mean he adopted each and every aspect of it. He did make his own choices on the work. The most striking aspect of the work is its monotone colour range: Milak chose to display the scene in black and white colours. This as a contrast to the actual picture. At first sight, the paintings all display the scene in the same way. However, looking closer, we see distinct differences between them (Image 12). While one painting is sharply polished, another one is blurred, resulting in a rather vague display. Milak here again adopts Richter’s approach: the blurring of the image is part of the pictorial aspect. In this way, we can reflect on painting through other media. Courtin (2014) includes this as a feature of the Memory Lane exhibition: “Their [the exhibited works] task is to offer new ways of perceiving reality by exploring what shapes it: its memory, its persistence, and the elements it suppresses”. The memory of the events is depicted directly in Milak’s work. Almost 20 years after it happened, it is still a topic in his art. By bringing these copies of a 20 year old photograph into the contemporary art scene, the artist repeatedly puts an emphasis on the war. More specifically, he wants the attention to be drawn towards war journalism. Often, we have one image in our heads that creates the image of a war. This is the case with the picture of Kim Phuc in the Vietnam war, which was mentioned before. For Milak, this is a picture that is represented as the image of the Bosnian

28 Information provided at the exhibition in addition to the works. 29 The content of this image was explained by Haviv (cited in Calabresi 2012): The unit, called the Tigers and led by a warlord named Arkan, already had a brutal reputation for fighting and taking no prisoners in the previous conflict in . I had photographed Arkan a few months earlier and using our brief interaction, as well as his desire to look good in front of the international media, I asked to photograph his troops in battle. He readily agreed and attached me to a small unit that included one soldier who spoke English. I was with them when a middle-aged couple had been brought out of a house. There I saw a scene of chaos and thought there was nothing I could do to stop it. The woman was screaming, the soldiers were screaming, some telling me not to take any photos and then several shots rang out. The man fell onto his back. The woman, later found to be his wife, tried to stem the bleeding while holding his hand. More shots rang out and she fell as another woman, her sister, came out and was shot as well. Although I had images of the civilians being shot I needed a photograph with the soldiers and victims in the same frame in order to provide a true piece of evidence of the war crime. I stood in the middle of the street in order to just to have them all the same frame. As I composed the frame the Serbian soldier came into the frame and I took the image. When TIME published all the images a few days later I was sure that this was the final piece of evidence the world needed in order to react. There was no reaction and the first shots were fired the following week in Sarajevo creating a war that lasted almost four years, killing thousands of people. 24 war. However, this work is also meant as a statement: we should not only have one image of a war in our heads. It does not always show the truth of the whole war30. According to the artist himself, these paintings can be all seen as an original31. Indeed, this is a statement we can adhere to. The original basis is an image which was taken before but still, the elaboration and ideas are the earnings of the artist. He wants to reflect on the relation of painting today in relation to the technical production of images. Images can be reproduced and spread quite easily nowadays. Milak imitates this process through his work32. Although the aesthetics of both painting and photograph are different, they depict the event quite directly. We certainly see that the paintings are not a direct contemplation of the reality. However, since the photographic motif has been adopted in the paintings with only slight changes, it strikes the viewer in the same way. Hence, we can state that these paintings are as confronting as the picture, even 20 years after the events. Through this repetitive display and the underlying meanings, Milak brings the past to the observer in the present day through a new perspective.

3.4 Conclusion on war painting

Based on these works, we can make a statement on Bosnian war painting. Going back to the introduction of war art, we can definitely say that these paintings are to be put in this category. Their art is clearly ‘shaped by war’ and positions the war as their central subject. It is not at all linked to the classical depiction of war art but rather to the Realist movement, which was not based on depicting war but depicting daily life. In this way, we can say that these paintings of the Bosnian war are to be put in a combination of Realism with the war theme. The subjects of these works are not to be put in one category. While Howson depicted the war crimes during the war in that same time period, Milak did the same 20 years later through the technique of appropriation. Zec however painted works which were applicable to the particular war period as well as to the situation today. The way the works are elaborated is different in some of the works. Howson did not seem to have a great attention to lines and theory: the expression of the subject matters most. This is again in great contrast to Poussin, who made passion and expression subordinate to the arrangement of figures. In Zec’s works, we see a great attention for anatomy but still, the emotive aspect of the painting stands out. With Milak, we see a clear consideration of the work’s shaping: by alternating the design, he expresses a well-known picture in various ways. The painters conjure strong feelings for their observers: Howson tends to produce the shock effect and make the observer feels horrified, while Zec transfers feelings of sadness and

30 Information provided by Radenko Milak on 3/08/2014. 31 Information provided at the exhibition. 32 Information provided by Radenko Milak in personal communication on 3/08/2014.

25 devastation. This difference can be explained by taking into account their different nationalities: we feel that Zec has been closer to the events than Howson, and is more connected to the emotional side of the war suffering. Milak on the other hand confronts us with a hyper realistic scene. By having the knowledge on the original photograph, the past is drawn to the 21th century spectator. We can see here that painting 20 years after the events can have an extra dimension: Milak did not only want to show us this picture again. He wants to make the observer think about photography and war journalism through his work. Despite the differences between them, these paintings are to be placed together: they show the war theme and create feelings that give no other option than to think about it and reflect on what happened.

26

4. The Bosnian war represented in photography

As we have already seen before, photography emerged as an art form and documentary medium. This was also the case in connection with war. According to Jünger & Nasser (1993: 24), “A war that is distinguished by the high level of technical precision required to wage it, is bound to leave behind documents more numerous and varied than battles waged in earlier times, less present to consciousness”. Since the Bosnian war is a very recent one, photography was the most used recording medium because of its highly developed status. Photographs were to be put in newspapers to inform the world about the events occurring in the conflict zone. As Brandon (2007: 108) puts it, “Even today the world relies on photography, in its still, moving, and digitized formats, to bring home the horrors of conflict. It is this attribute that had led many artists to include photography in their war art vocabulary.” In both of these domains (art and documentary photography), Sarajevo’s war photographers achieved fascinating results (Lovrenović 2001: 212). The pictures selected for this research should be situated in both, art and documentary, domains. They can be (and some were) used as documentary photos, published and spread in newspapers all over the world., Because of this easy reproduction, we can doubt the ‘artiness’ of this kind of pictures. These photographs are chosen because they can be viewed as art as well. In this sense, we can agree with Swinnen’s characteristics of art photography (1992: 34).

Fotografie is niet voor iedereen louter een kwestie van techniek en reproductie. Voor veel fotografen komt het er vooral op aan met het medium een veelzeggende beeldtaal te ontwikkelen. Een foto wordt namelijk nog geen kunstwerk door het technisch perfect afdrukken van het gekozen onderwerp. De keuze zelf van het onderwerp en de manier waarop het in beeld is gebracht wijzen op gevoeligheden en ervaringen van de fotograaf die ook de kijker kunnen aanspreken. Dat een foto kunst wordt genoemd ligt niet aan de uniciteit van de afdruk, die eigenhandig is gemaakt, maar wel omdat het resultaat beeldende kwaliteit bezit.33

This is something I think is to be noticed in the selected pictures: the subject is consciously chosen and is also brought into view in a certain way which contributes to the ‘artiness’ of them. Since photographers do have the choice of what to capture, we have to think about the content of a picture. According to Prosser (cited in Batchen et al. 2012), photographs can become prove of the war and can even be used as evidence to prove a war atrocity, a feature which evidently testifies to the immense power photography carries. Although photographs

33 Photography is not to everyone a matter of technique or reproduction. Many photographers want to develop a significant new visual language through the medium. A picture does not become an art work by printing the chosen subject in a technical perfect way. The choice of the subject and the manner in which it is portrayed indicate sensitivities and experiences of the photographer which can also appeal to the spectator. A picture which is called art does not get this name due to the uniqueness of the print, which is personally made, but is does because the result has a visual quality.

27 appear as a direct reflection of reality, they can also be deceiving and mislead the observer. Therefore, they need to be viewed with a critical eye that would seek for context and circumstances:

The adage that “seeing is believing” both incorporates and obscures a contradiction that began to shape human perception with the onset of photographic realism. Most obviously, the statement indicates that we may infer the truth of a person, thing, place, or event. At the same time, “seeing is believing” also implies that visual evidence can persuade us that something exists when in fact it does not. (Armstrong cited in Beaumont 2007: 84)

Is seeing believing? In general, the answer is yes. We do believe what we see. But should we? (Isaacs&Hálfdanarson cited in Petö 2009: VII)

Although both Armstong and Isaacs & Hálfdanarson pose a rhetorical question, the “seeing is believing” metaphor raises the incentive to be critical and search for the context which can be provided by information on the photographer or from art galleries and texts. In this chapter, pictures of atrocity almost become “ordinary” to look at. However, we need to remain alert all the time and think of the question why we see these pictures:

Why look at pictures of atrocity? We don’t have a choice. We can’t help but see them anyway. In our daily newspapers, on our TVs, on our computers and now on our phones and other handheld devices, we live in an ever-expanding world of images, many of them showing terrible things. […] Not to look at pictures of atrocity is to deny its existence, not only when atrocity happens at a distance but also when it’s there on our doorsteps, in front of us. Atrocity is going on all around us. The least we can do is acknowledge it. If ours is an age of visuality, it is also one of atrocity. Indeed, photography has been associated with atrocity throughout its history. From Mathew Brady’s photographs of the American Civil War in the 1860s to satellite shots of the ongoing devastation following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, photography has kept pace with atrocity, not only by chronicling it but also by developing the technology to capture atrocity in all its new forms. (Prosser cited in Batchen et al. 2012: 7)

In this research, we are not talking about the current time period with instant and mass communication technologies which are widespread. Nevertheless, Prosser’s statement has a relevant meaning in the period 1992-1995. Newspapers were spreading information about it and in television news programmes, people were talking about the war. So we can say that this is the case in every time period where a conflict occurs. We have to look at these pictures to know what happens and by looking at them, we recognize it. In addition to the question why we see these pictures, we have to ask ourselves how we see them. We cannot look at a picture involving war or death in the same way we look at a picture of a landscape or a family picture. According to Prosser (Cited in Batchen et al. 2012: 10), we have to “read” the pictures: “”reading” means at the very least attending carefully to the image, spending more time with it than we may tend to when it appears in our newspapers or on the internet. Atrocity photographs are not self-evident and thus require this kind of close reading.” This is the way the pictures in this chapter will be treated: a clear description of

28 what we see already provides a framework for analysis. The how? question will not be limited to the manner in which we look at the picture. It can also be applied to the feelings evoked while looking at pictures involving war. A feeling that is mentioned in various sources on photography connected with death is voyeurism. Schrijvers (2009) mentions it in her research, as does Prosser (cited in Batchen et al. 2012: 9), who states that this is the result of the difference between the viewer and of what is being looked or the person who is being looked at:

The state of the body in the photograph and the state of the body viewing the photograph often could not be more different. Typically we are not even aware of our body’s involvement in viewing a photograph-although viewing a photograph is initially and invariably a sensory experience. The imbalance in bodily exposure between the photographic subject and the photographic viewer may leave the experience of viewing atrocity photographs with an uncomfortable proximity to looking at some kinds of pornography or other modes of domination through acts of representation. The atrocity photograph can lure us in at the same time as it repels us and makes us want to turn away.

The last sentence captures the essence when looking at photographs. This feeling can appear in connection with some of the pictures which will be described later. Of course other, rather “obvious” emotions occur: anxiety because of what we see, horror because of the blood and dead people,… Emotions such as fascination and curiosity can also appear. In this chapter, I will analyze photographs taken during the war and connected with the war. These are based on a representative basis: they each highlight various events. By analyzing, we can see which feelings they evoke. What do we have to know about the picture to have these feelings? Does information change the perception of an event that has been captured in a photograph? How do we look at them? In this section, the choice is based on representation: to create a varied picture, different subjects and photographers of various nationalities are included.

4.1 The dangers of Sarajevo

The danger in the daily war life was captured by various photographers. Here, we can mention two foreign photographers, Santiago Lyon and Paul Lowe. They both recorded the danger in a different way. Lyon34 took a picture of a women lying dead on the ground in the so-called

34 Spanish photographer who is now vice president and director of photography The Associated Press (World Press Photo 2014). 29

Sniper Alley35 in Sarajevo during the war (Image 14). During the book launch of Bosnia 1992- 199536, he gave the following explanation proceeding their publication:

At this stage very, very few journalist were working in Sarajevo due to the dangerous conditions and difficulty of accessing the city. There was much interest in the rapidly deteriorating situation there. The photo was used on scores of newspaper front pages around the world. Some years later I was sent a photo taken at a photo exhibition in Sarajevo. One whole wall of the exhibition consisted of front pages featuring this photo. (Lyon cited in Calabresi 2012)

This shows how pictures could be used as a communication tool. In this case, people outside the Balkans could see what was taking place and the type of ‘experiences’ associated with the war with their own eyes. It is not a coincidence that the picture of Santiago Lyon was used in newspapers as an image of the war. People actually had to run through the Sniper Alley, where many people were shot by snipers during the Siege (Coffey 1999). This picture shows danger of everyday life and reality in which getting killed seemed imminent. The photographer Paul Lowe talked about this:

This stretch of open ground marked a transition point between the suburbs and the heart of the city. So every day, hundreds of civilians risked their lives by sprinting across this street, under sniper fire from the gunmen in the hills above. And they risked their lives to come into the city, to be part of its life, to identify themselves as civilized humans against the barbarity of the violence being rained down upon them. (cited in Calabresi 2012)

Lowe also documented on the Bosnian war through photography. He took a picture in June 1992 of a mother, carrying her child, running across the street (Image 15). The image is blurred because of the movement. However, the anxiety is clear on both the mother’s and the child’s faces. In the background, we can see another women trying to run from the danger. The picture definitely shows the danger in these days37. According to Lowe, these kind of pictures are still important today (as quoted in Anadolija 2014): “Ove fotografije su stare 20 godina i kada pogledam u svoju arhivu, teško mi je da shvatim šta smo sve doživjeli u tim vremenima. Mislim da je veoma važno za generacije danas i za one koje će doći, ali i za starije ljude da ne zaborave šta se desilo u prošlosti i da ne dozvole da se to desi u budućnosti38”

35 Zmaja od Bosne Ulica. Translated as Dragon of Bosnia street. This is a central street in Sarajevo where the risk of being shot was the highest throughout the whole city during the war. Today, we can still notice the numerable bullet holes in the buildings. 36 The book Bosnia 1992-1995 (2012) is a photobook that brings together all sorts of pictures which were taken during these war years. Pictures by Bosnian photographers as well as by foreigners, accompanied by texts written by the photographers and extra information (The Warm foundation 2014). The pictures show horrible scenes as well as ‘neutral’ or ‘positive’ ones, to the extent possible. 37 Paul Lowe made a series of pictures like this called Sarajevo Siege. In the summer of 2014, these pictures are exhibited in the Galerija 11/07/1995 in Sarajevo (Anadolija 2014). 38 “These pictures are 20 years old and when I look at them in my archive, I find it difficult to understand what we all experienced during those times. I think it is very important for the generation of today and for those who will come but also for the older people to not forget what happened in the past and in order to not let it happen again in the future.” 30

We do not know if this woman survived while crossing the street but in any case, she was still alive when the picture was taken. Lyon on the other hand captured a moment when a woman did not make it through the Sniper Alley on the 11th of June in 1992 (Calabresi 2012). Without her lying there, it could have been a shot of an average rainy day in Sarajevo, with the Coca-Cola advertisement, the cars and buildings in the background. Lyon here proves the previously mentioned argument that a picture is not only documentary since the photographer also plays a role in the depiction of a scene. He intentionally took this perspective to depict the woman and waited for cars to pass by to fill up the background (Calabresi 2012). In this way, Lyon captured a snapshot: a still image of the woman combined with the movement of the cars. This makes this picture very artistic yet informative. To go back to the content of the picture, we can resolve that dead people lying on the street were not an exception during the Siege, as the pictures show clearly. Many pictures have been taken of them. However, for people in the countries where this picture was published in newspapers, it must have been shocking. The woman is lying quite elegantly on the ground, after being shot through the head (Lyon cited in Calabresi 2012), with her shoes and baggage a little further away. Knowing this happened in broad day light makes it shocking since crime and murder are still overall seen as something that happens at night. Imagining that this was part of the reality during this time makes this image even stronger. In this way, the aspect of time is important. If this picture appeared in newspapers during war time, it was probably one of many. If we see it today, it is even more shocking because we cannot imagine that people can be shot in the daytime and that it was possible back then. This is what Lowe meant in his statement above.

4.2 The hopes of Sarajevo

Pictures taken in the war were overall connected to the war itself, but not always to death, as is seen in a photograph by Jérôme Delay. He shot a picture of the contest Miss Opkoljenog Sarajeva39, which was held in May 1993 (Image 16). Inela Nogić, a 17 year old Bosnian girl, won the contest and, together with the other contestants, held up a banner with ‘Don’t let them kill us’ written on it (Danas 2012). A beauty contest seems like an unusual event to take place during a siege but of course it had a meaning: “The war-defying pageant reflected the character of the 380,000 people who lived in Sarajevo then, residents trying to continue normal city life despite daily shelling and sniper fire under the almost 4-year-long military siege by Bosnian Serbs that started in 1992 (Cerkez & Nikcic 2012).” When Nogić visited the theatre 20 years later, she said it in a similar way: “It was a crazy thing to do during a war. But we tried to live a normal life. It was some kind of a defense mechanism we all had”

39 Miss Besieged Sarajevo 31

(Nogić cited in Cerkez & Niksic 2012). On the picture is to be seen how the girls prepare to go back on stage with the banner after the winner was chosen. There is a great contrast between the beautiful girls’ bathing suits and high heels and the message, referring to the war and their wish for it to end. The banner presents a hopeful and really powerful message. Nogić was only 17 in 1993 but still, she was able to make a strong statement. She said this was “another outcry to draw attention and have someone do something” (AP 2012). According to Cerkez & Niksic (2012), the only help Bosnia got were “food packages the U.N. sent along with military observers, who counted the shells and reported on them to the outside world. Nothing else. What Sarajevo residents really wanted was an end to the death and destruction, the restoration of electricity, water and heating, a halt to the 330 shells smashing into the city each day. Together with the other girls, she became a symbol of resistance”. To understand this picture, we do not need to have a lot of extra information. We only need to know that it is taken in 1993, during the war in Bosnia. Who the girls are does not matter, since they are all together in this protest. Although we cannot speak of ‘absence of the war’ just because we do not see blood or dead people, this picture proves that war photographs does not need to be shocking or bloody but can also carry out a positive vibe . In contrast to the positive aspect we can see in this picture 20 years after, Nogić was not very positive about the war and about her life and future in that time when the picture was taken.40 She did survive the war by moving to Germany41. This shows war does not always have to have a pessimistic ending.

4.3 Silent death captured in a photograph

While things worked out for Nogić, other people were not so lucky. The picture which struck me most of all was one taken by Darko Bandić42. Outside of Tuzla, he found a woman hanging from a tree in 1993 (Image 17). With this picture, we can mention the feel of voyeurism which was mentioned earlier since it feels like there is only the woman and

40Question: Na kraju reci nešto o ovom ratu, tj. vidiš li kraja ovom paklu? Nogić: Ne mogu i ne želim o tome govoriti. Želim otići odavde i želim se jednog dana vratiti u svoje Sarajevo. Sresti svoje prijatelje, popiti kavu kod Olomana, bezbrižno prošetati Titovom, popeti se na Trebević, skijati na Jahorini, gledati Želju, otići na kocert Crvene jabuke u Slogu, pojesti ćevape u Mrkvi,...... ali sve je to samo san. (Nogić cited in T.M. 2012) Question: At the end I still want to say something about the war, that is: do you see an end of this hell? Nogić: I can’t and I don’t want to talk about that. I would like to go away from here and return one day to my Sarajevo. Meet my friends, drink coffee at Oloman’s, carefree walk the Tito’s Street, climb the Trebević, ski on the Jahorina, watch Željo, go to a concert of Crvene Jabuke at Sloga, eat ćevape at Mrkva....but all that is just a dream. 41 Now she lives in the Netherlands as a mother of two (Cerkez&Niksic 2012). Because of this beauty contest, The rockband U2, who was already really famous in 1992, made a song called Miss Sarajevo, often performed with Luciano Pavarotti (Danas 2012). Bill Carter made a documentary called ‘Miss Sarajevo’ which is to be seen from the 12th of July 2014 in the Galerija 11/07/1995 in Sarajevo (Anadolija 2014). 42 A freelance Croat photographer working for AP (Selwyn-Holmes 2013).

32 yourself as a viewer in an empty setting. We see the woman hanging perfectly dressed in a white skirt and red cardigan. Only her shoes are missing. At first sight, it is not even clear that she is hanging there. A first thought can be that this woman is standing against a tree. This is not clear because she is surrounded by leaves and greenery. By taking a closer look, the rope is visible. No information is revealed about her in this picture since we do not even see her face. By knowing the year in which the picture was taken (1993), we can assume that she is a war victim but we can never know only by looking at the picture what happened to her and what the reason was for her to commit suicide. The photographer did not know anything about her either at this moment. Although he had the chance to take a picture of her face, he decided to leave her unknown to the viewer. This is what he said about it:

I had arrived at this massive makeshift refugee camp in Tuzla early in the morning, around 5.30am. Tens of thousands of distraught women and children had poured into the camp the previous day. Just as I was about to enter the camp, two or three young girls told me they had spotted a woman hanging from a tree in the woods. They took me to her. I was actually a bit confused. I didn’t know exactly what to do. From the direction I was walking I could see her face, but obviously I didn’t want to shoot that. I shot just a couple of frames, then went back to the UN guard. I remember he was a Swedish soldier and I told him what I had seen. He said: ‘For now, let’s take care of the ones who are alive.’ I saw so many really awful things in Bosnia’s war, that was just yet another of them. I did wonder what horrific things must have happened to her to drive herself to take her own life. But I never found out. I never even knew her name until a year later. (Bandić cited in Calabresi 2012) According to Selwyn-Holmes (2013), her name was Ferida Osmanović and the photo was put on front pages of newspapers all over the world. Indeed she was a faceless image of the war. But do we really have to know what happened to her, where she was from, why she wanted to die? Does it matter where this picture was taken? It would not change the perception of this photograph if we knew all of this information. We see a horrible yet beautiful scene regardless. It does not get stronger by knowing who she was. When we search for an extra dimension behind the pictures, we turn away from the picture, as Schrijvers (2009: 6) says in her research on photos of unknown executed men:

The problem with all these questions, and the need for answers to them, is that you cease to look at the pictures. You turn away from them to look for answers, facts, that are beyond the picture, what is outside the frame and what was not photographed. It is as if a picture, an image, a visual representation only gets its meaning from the context in which it was made.

This is what we need to avoid. These pictures do have a meaning without the background information and we cannot look away from it only to have this information since an image can stand on its own. With Bandić’s picture, this is shown by the fact that it stood as a symbol for all the war victims. Not knowing the victim’s name did not do anything about the impact of the picture.

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Turning to the aesthetic aspect of the picture, we can add a comparison between this picture and a painting by the Belgian artist Michaël Borremans: The Angel (Image 18). We can notice a lot of similarities between these two works. Although an imaginary scene is not fully comparable with a confronting and true image like Bandić’s photo, there are some characteristics that can be put with both images. What characterizes Borremans’ work is as follows (Grove 2014: 3):

Vooral in zijn werk op papier reduceert Borremans de individualiteit van elke figuur door deze te isoleren in een ondefinieerbare stilte en de ogen telkens af te wenden of te verbergen. Hoewel deze beelden soms wreed zijn, omzeilen ze directe associaties met geweld omwille van de zuivere schoonheid van de geschilderde beelden. Noch de condities waarin de personages zich bevinden, noch hun omgeving is traceerbaar. Het is onmogelijk om de figuren in tijd en ruimte te kaderen.43

This painting clearly shares characteristics with the photograph. It has an overwhelming size and depicts a woman standing in a pink dress with the face painted black and averted from the viewer. The room in which she is standing is unknown, we only see the floor and the background which looks like a painting canvas. With both their arms down and next to their straight body, both women are in the same position. The clothing of the hanging woman is perfect, just like the dress on the Angel. If we take a look at the images, both women are in an indeterminable place and time. We know that Bandić’s image is taken in Tuzla but according to the picture itself, we cannot tell where and when it was taken. The absence of violence is also a characteristic of the two images. Though Bandić’s woman hung herself, it is quite a rustic scene. The women are both absent and turned away from the viewer. This makes both of them intriguing. We can materialize a story as the background context on their behalf, but this won’t give an extra dimension to the image itself. I wanted to make this comparison as a statement to show that death can be terrifying and beautiful at the same time. As Prosser (2012: 12) says: “Atrocity can indeed be beautiful, as in iconic images of the atomic bomb, or of a dead woman in colorful clothes whose body has been washed onto a white beach after a tsunami. But what kind of beauty is this?”. We can definitely agree with this stance. To answer his question: it is a fascinating yet shocking kind of beauty. The atrocity is not apparent in our faces but is clear if we think about it. The Angel can be seen as a strange, intriguing yet beautiful image as well as the pending woman. Although Borremans’s figure is not dead, he uses the same characteristics we find with the pending woman to consciously make a painting. Therefore, we can also find aesthetic beauty in a picture that displays atrocity.

43 Especially in his work on paper, Borremans reduces the individuality of each figure by isolating it in an undefinable silence and by turning away or hiding the eyes. Although these images are sometimes cruel, they get around direct associations with violence because of the pure beauty of the painted images. Neither the conditions in which the characters are located, nor their environment is traceable. It is impossible to situate the figures in time or space. 34

4.4 Burning history: Milomir Kovačević

While a lot of photographers chose to photograph the people who were affected by war, Kovačević made a series of black and white pictures during and after the destruction of the Sarajevo City Hall on the 26th of August in 199244 (which are called Vijecnica45, Image 19). The city hall, which was built at the end of the 19th century was turned into the National Library. This was still the situation when the building was destroyed by Serb Shelling in august 1992. In May 2014, it was finally renovated and reopened (Sito-Sucic 2014). We see one picture from the outside while the building was still burning. From the outside, the building looks unimpaired. This is immediately being denied by the fire clouds above it. The other pictures capture the inside of the building after the fire. The rooms are still intact but we can see the damage done by the fire and the rubble caused by it. Although they are in black and white, the sunlight and the ash clouds due to the fire are evident. Again, this is an example of how something terrible can be beautiful in the same way. The sunlight in the pictures makes them a natural and temporary art work which Kovačević grasped. This is why the time aspect is an important part of this work: these are snapshots of moments during the war. This series is a great example of how pictures can be deceiving. By looking at them, one would think the pictures of the building after the fire were taken on a different day. However they are taken on the same day46. We can thus assume a considerable amount of time has passed between the pictures of the fire and the ones after the fire. No blood and victims are involved but yet, these pictures show the war quite directly. Knowing the cause for this fire is necessary for understanding the images. As Hirsch and Spitzer (cited in Batchen et al. 2012) say, war and atrocity can be almost invisible in photographs. In their research they refer to pictures taken of happy women walking down the street during the Second World War with a Jewish star knitted to their jacket. The war is displayed in this picture, but rather „ordinarily“, as they call it. This is something we can apply to Kovačević’s pictures: if we do not know the cause of the fire, it could seem like an “ordinary” fire. The war theme is to be found in the fact that a Serb shelling destroyed the city hall and with it a precious collection of books and documents. The historic building burned down to the ground. This was generally referred to as a national disaster (NOSa 2014). Although Kovačević is a Bosnian photographer, he did not depict this event emotionally. Without any judgement, he showed the beauty and sadness. With this picture, we can see that war can be depicted through people, messages and events in this way.

44 Information put on Milomir Kovačević’s personal Facebook page. 45 City hall 46 Information provided by Milomir Kovačević in personal communication.

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4.4 Conclusion on photography

The war theme does occur on numerous occasions and is directly captured in these photographs. As a spectator, we are confronted with daily life and war circumstances. Even in pictures where this motif is not directly visible (like the beauty contest where no guns or soldiers occur in the picture), the war is just around the corner. This is a logical consequence: life during the war was entirely filled with it. There was no way to escape the gruesome reality. And although we can conclude this, not all war pictures want to exhibit devastation. In means of communication, we can mention that war photography in the Bosnian war was often used to show people all over the world what was happening in Bosnia: the dangers of everyday life, people who were killed,… Of course the pictures are still strong today but now they do not have a direct communicating function anymore. This is the power of photography : it is capable of showing the world right away what is taking place. In this way, it is very different from other forms of expression as painting. Despite of the fact that the war theme is often present, the picture of the Miss Besieged Sarajevo contest shows us that war does not always have to be negative. People still kept on living their lives in these difficult circumstances. In cases where the situation is not clear, like the picture with the hanging woman, it does not need to be meaningless. On the contrary, it can provoke a lot of thoughts in a simple manner. How important is the information we get? the identity and age of a person does not matter in connection with the war theme. This is the case in pictures like the hanging woman or the old lady lying dead on the street. The image is transferred directly, whether it is a man or a woman lying there. Information does matter in terms of dates: when we know when the picture has been taken, we can construct an image around it. To conclude this part, we can say the war has been captured in various ways. Today, the different subjects and situations in the images show facets of the war in a direct way.

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5. The Bosnian war in graphic representation

The war was not only represented through paintings and photographs. As said in the introduction, we can note a tendency towards abstractionism in art history. Entire symbolic ideas and meanings are presented through abstracted designs. This can also be the case related to this topic. Hence, graphic remnants and creations are part of the representation as well. In this chapter, we will analyze in which way the war is displayed if we do not see the actual war crimes or victims of it. These graphics are to be situated in various subgenres of art and representation. In this way, we cannot start an argument about how they are used and what they look like. The discussed works are therefore linked to the category in which they belong (for example graffiti) with the aim to obtain a framework in which we can analyze. The material in this domain was found in two galleries. As a first, we have to note the importance of the Galerija 11/07/1995 in Sarajevo. It was set up in 2012 as a commemoration for the Srebrenica massacre. This major event was mentioned before in this research in connection with the painter Safet Zec. The gallery wants to show visitors a collection of multimedia: “through images, maps, audio and video materials, the gallery aims to offer its visitors the documentary and artistic interpretation of the events that took place during July 1995” (Galerija 11/07/1995 website47). A set of two photographs showing graffiti draws the attention at the exhibition: the Bosnian girl picture and the United Nothing picture, both taken by Tarik Samarah as part of his Srebrenica series that document the aftermath of the Srebrenica genocide48. These images are classified in the graphic chapter since the main focus is not the photograph and its aesthetics but the graffiti itself. By discussing these pictures, we can create an image of how war can be represented through this kind of graffiti written during the war. The other source of images is the 2014 Memory Lane exhibition. The contemplated material there is to be situated in the present day. In this way, we can see how graphics can be generally placed in the representation of war.

5.1 War depicted in graffiti: United Nothing

The first of Samarah’s pictures which will be discussed is the United Nothing picture. We see UN written in big capital letters. Under the UN graffiti stands ‘United Nothing’. These are words that need explanation. It is known that the text was written on the ex-battery factory of

47 http://galerija110795.ba/en/, consulted on 20/06/2014. 48 Information provided by mrs. Anela Hakalovic from Galerija 11/07/1995 in personal communication on 20/06/2014. 37

Potočari in 1994 or 1995, when the Dutch troops were responsible for the safety in the Safe Area of Srebrenica49. Samarah froze this graffiti in the aftermath of the war, in 200250. It is not entirely clear why the text was written there. The first thought we get is that this graffiti text is written by someone who was dissatisfied with the policy of the Dutch Soldiers in Potočari and wants to complain about it. Nevertheless, it is written by a Dutch soldier itself. This means there is a great contrast between what we see and what we know. Hence, the question here is why this graffiti was written on the wall. We can only try to do an interpretation since there is no official explanation. According to Ley & Cybriwsky (1974), who analyzed graffiti in Philadelphia, USA, graffiti can be a used as a delineation of an area and as deterrence of other “groups”. This does not fit in the context here. The battery factory was already an area “occupied” by the Dutch UN soldiers. Graffiti is often used for another purpose: to encourage or taunt public persons or groups, as Rolston (2009) discovered in the analyze of Irish political murals. This is definitely to be applied here: an international organization is being criticized from the inside by a soldier. Aesthetics often do not matter in graffiti, it is the meaning of the text that is most important. We can see this in the United Nothing picture: it looks like a footnote on a drawing paper. This is all about the ideas behind the design. This graffiti gives the impression that the person who wrote it was dissatisfied by what was going on. Although the soldiers needed to protect the Bosnian population, this text seems to be an indication that they’re not going to try to do their job because it is already hopeless. Although we cannot know what the writer of it meant precisely, we know it is the result of a negative attitude. In hindsight, the ultimate result is crystal clear: the Dutch soldiers did not succeed in protecting the Bosnian population which resulted in the Srebrenica massacre.

5.2 Šejla Kamerić: the power of a picture

The second picture exhibited at the Galerija 11/07/1995, Bosnian girl, is Samarah’s shot of another graffiti text written on the walls of the same factory 51 . According to Samarah (website52), the text ‘No Teeth…? A mustache…? Smel [sic] like shit…? Bosnian girl!’ is “Graffiti written by an unknown Dutch soldier on a wall of the army barracks in Potočari, Srebrenica, 1994/95. Royal Netherlands Army troops, as part of the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-95, were responsible for protecting the Srebrenica safe area.” In contrast to the United Nothing graffiti, the meaning of this text is

49 Information provided by mrs. Anela Hakalovic from Galerija 11/07/1995 in personal communication on 20/06/2014. 50 Information provided by Tarik Samarah in personal communication on 14/07/2014. 51 Tamarah’s graffiti images are to be found in a separate section at his website: http://tariksamarah.com/images_grafiti/index.htm

52 http://tariksamarah.com/images_grafiti/pages/078-grafit.htm. Page consulted on 21/06/2014. 38 much more distinct: it shows a great disrespect towards the Bosnian population from a soldier whose job it was to protect this very population. Presumably, it was meant as a patronizing joke in the military atmosphere. We can place this text in the same category as the United Nothing graffiti. It is meant as an insult towards the population and to spread negativity in this very situation. This text has been an inspiration for the Bosnian artist Šejla Kamerić. She utilized this text in her work. The power of a picture is shown in her famous ‘Bosnian girl’ poster (Image 21). Kamerić put a picture of herself behind the text and spread this as a poster on billboards, in magazine ads,…(Bryan 2011) on the 11th of July 2003, the eight anniversary of the Srebrenica tragedy, while a procession of coffins with remains of Srebrenica victims was held through Sarajevo (Helms 2008). Of course, this combination was a shock and definitely a reminder of the tragedy. Although this work is called Kamerić’s work, it was a cooperation between her and Samarah: he shot the picture of the graffiti as well as the picture of her behind the graffiti53. This poster encourages the viewer to reflect. It can therefore have several explanations. What strikes most at first sight, is the great contrast between the image and the text. Kamerić, being an attractive woman, shows the rudeness of these words. It is clear that, although he had to protect the Bosnian people, the Dutch soldier looked down on the population. Helms (2008: 112) believed that “the contrast between the young, beautiful artist and the crude words of contempt from the Dutch soldier –in flawed English, no less- challenged the idea of Western superiority.” The educated younger Sarajevans saw in this work the demeaning of the urban Bosnian population to the rural refugees, who were seen as uncultured. Kamerić, wearing her modern clothes, stood in great contrast with the head scarves and dimije the rural women wear (Helms 2008). This contrast was not seen by them as a contrast between Bosnia and the west but as a contrast between the Bosnian population itself. This shows how a simple act like putting a picture behind a text can have an impact on what people think about situations. The time aspect is important here: Kamerić exhibited this work in 2003: eight years after the Srebrenica massacre. This shows that the war was not forgotten (what is quite obvious after the massacre) and people still (have to) reflect on it.

53 Information provided by Tarik Samarah in personal communication on 14/07/2014. 39

5.3 The influence of Pop art: Andrej Đerković

Andrej Đerković’s 2005 work To forget kills54 originates from both the Bosnian culture and history. It consists of three almost identical representations of a standard Drina cigarette pack (Image 22). In three different languages (English, French and Bosnian), the same text is shown: To forget kills/ Oublier tue / Zaborav ubija. Đerković here selected a feature from the popular and contemporary culture to be the basis and model for his work: the well-known Bosnian cigarette brand Drina. We can see that the origin of his method is the Pop Art movement, which emerged in the 1960’s in the USA. The general characteristics of this movement converge with the work of Đerković. Pop Art artists drew their inspiration from the mass culture and capitalism of that time period. People and motives which were present in the contemporary time, appeared in works of art, collages and posters. The presence of irony and parody in the Pop Art movement was significant. Artists wished to design their works in big sizes with flatness55 as the central characteristic (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). After mentioning some of Pop Art’s general characteristics, we can again confirm that Đerković can be seen as an adherent of this. Đerković connected his work to the contemporary Bosnian culture by taking over the lay out of the Drina cigarette packs. These are widespread to be found in daily life since Bosnia is known to be a country with a high number of smokers. Furthermore, the aspect of irony is to be found in the text. The public knows this is an adaptation of the regular warning messages which are placed on cigarette packs: smoking kills. By changing this, Đerković offers the observer an opportunity to reflect on the essence of the work. As a central characteristic, the flatness and large sizes are again common. The work does not have a distinct forefront and background and is thus two dimensional. The large size is to be found in the comparison between an original cigarette pack and the displayed version: it is of course a lot bigger56. The content and the design of this poster are equally important. However, the content is much less revealed. Although we get the link with the cigarette packs, the initial intention and inspiration of the artist does not stand out immediately. The event which influenced Đerković directly was the Srebrenica massacre. As we saw before, this has inspired numerous artists to create. Đerković wants to show that it is unacceptable to forget the events as a way to escape reality. He wants to react against the aggressive campaign used to discourage smoking. According to the artist, the focus is laid too heavily on the anti-smoking campaign and the preservation of health while death is already around people. In other words, Đerković focuses

54 Observed at the Memory Lane exhibition in Paris on 22/07/2014. Exhibited at a hardened version. 300 poster editions in different shapes are are being sold. (Galerie du Jour website. http://galeriedujour.com/ consulted on 24/07/2014). 55 Flatness is an artistic term. It was first mentioned related to the American Abstract Expressionism (situated around 1940-1955). It indicates that the forefront and background of a work of art are merging. Therefore, it obtains a strong two dimensionality (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). 56 3x100x70 cm. Information provided at the Memory Lane exhibition. 40 in this way on death which is already there and may not be forgotten instead of death which is still preventable. He also feels like the word ‘death’ has become ordinary in today’s journalistic language. Death is not only to be found in smoking but also in the daily life around us. For , it is situated in the confrontation with history57. Đerković here creates an opportunity for reflection through an abstract graphic representation. Through these graphics based on a familiar design, the observer is not directly confronted with the events. Still, it draws the attention to the war history on a more intellectual level.

5.4 Damir Radović: depicting trauma

As the fourth Bosnian artist in this section of the research, Damir Radović is worth mentioning. His graphics are clearly connected with the war. In the 2014 work we are going to discuss, Le Sacre d’un Cris5859, the artist uses a combination of words and a composed image (Image 23). In this way, it constitutes a graphic installation. We see two walls filled with one sentence: “how the war started in…”. These sentences are clearly handwritten since some of them were accidentally whipped out while writing. In the middle of the first wall hangs a neon adaptation of Edvard Munch’s famous Scream. The figure is clearly recognizable despite of the additional aureole on the head. Standing in front of these walls, the viewer is overwhelmed by the numerously repeated sentence. The neon figure adds a fascinating atmosphere to the entity. Again, additional information is required to fully understand this work of art. Radović explained the underlying meaning in an interview with Sarajevo Culture Bureau (2014):

The phrase is repeated so often that it begins to lose a bit of meaning, becomes like a mantra. In a way, this repetitive action is reminiscent of people suffering psychological trauma. people often retreat from their surroundings by doing repetitive actions. The way in which an artist can retreat into their own world is another link with traumatised behaviours. On top of these words is a familiar image of mine; a neon reproduction of Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1893-1910). Munch’s painting spoke of alienation, difficulty and trauma in his own time, and of course the Great War came along not long after the final version was finished. I suppose I am thinking about psychological trauma and suffering as a precursor to war, something that prefigures a coming conflict.

Radović here stresses the merging of the war theme with psychology. Therefore, he focuses on what lies behind the actual events: the trauma. This is represented by the returning sentence ‘How the war started in…’. According to Finci (2013), artists can indeed use art to shape their trauma’s. This is what Radović does here. However, it is not clear whether it is his

57 Information provided at the Memory Lane exhibition. 58 The coronation of a scream. 59 Observed at the Memory Lane exhibition in Paris at 22/07/2014. An edition of 20 posters was sold at the Galerie du Jour. 41 war trauma or a general war trauma60. The art work and meaning thus have the same shape: we see what is on the outside but what is behind is not directly visible. This is the case as well with traumatized people: we can see what is on the outside but the inner state of mind is not visible. As for the neon figure, we have to know Munch’s background to see how this is connected with the war sentence. Munch had indeed a very troubled life. According to Sterckx & Jacobs (2014: 180), this artist had a very pessimistic view on life which was caused by “an early confrontation with social misery and personal grief. He also had a great anxiety syndrome”. In this way, we can see the connection with the war and the reason why Radović adopted this motif. Fear and pessimism are often connected with war. To define the whole of this work, we can say that it is very intriguing and overwhelming. It is a recent work which still draws inspiration from the war. It is, just like the work by Đerković, challenging the viewer to reflect on war. Also on what lies beyond what is seen: the traumatic feelings evoked through the repetitive sentence.

5.5 Conclusion on graphics

It is shown in this chapter that war is not only present in photographs and paintings depicting it. Looking at the dates of these various works, we can notice a large amount of time between them. The graffiti was drawn during the war while the other two works are dating from the period 2008-2014. However, they share characteristics. These graphic representations show the Bosnian war via a detour. This is the first aspect of graphic representation we can mention: the war is never visible in a direct way. We do not see soldiers fighting and citizen victims being killed. However, it is depicted in other ways. The graffiti portrayed the underlying situation during the war: the Dutch soldiers who had to protect the Srebrenica area were not always motivated and positive. They reflected their thoughts through these words. In the more recent works, the war is also depicted through drawn images and words. The second characteristic in this context is a consequence of this indirect representation. We definitely need more background information to understand the meanings. Of course this was already the case with paintings and photography: we always need to be critical about the content. However, with graphics we still need more of it since the image itself is not completely “readable”. For example: the United Nothing graffiti can be easily misinterpreted. Information is needed to construct the meaning of this image. This is the case as well for the other works: the underlying meaning is revealed through additional information provided by the artist or gallery where the work is exhibited.

60 Radović certified that the essence of his work is showing the collective trauma. In personal communication on 19/07/2014.

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As a third aspect, we can mention the various functions. One central function is the incentive to reflect. All these works require this from their spectators. One cannot take a look at these works and immediately understand them fully. Of course the observer can get an idea but it can always be wrong. Furthermore, some of them can provoke a discussion, like Kamerić did. She created a whole new level to the graffiti by putting her picture behind it. An artist can also make a statement with his work by complaining on the prevailing conventions. This was already the case in the avant-garde movements who were mentioned before. Although it is displayed in a rather “playful” way, it contains critical thoughts and the indictment is clear. For example, Đerković definitely makes this clear by using the design of a cigarette pack and connecting his accusation to this.

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6. The absence of war representation: the immense contrast

In the introduction was mentioned that we will search for the absence of the war theme in art. In this part, the purpose is to find an answer to the questions, and if these events really shape the artist’s experiences for a long lasting time. Can people who went through such life- determining events ever be freed from them?

6.1 The significance of absence

Not everything connected with Bosnia and the war has to be about that one subject. However, this is not evident nowadays in a country that carries the scar of a recent war on its heart. 20 years afterwards, the war is all around in the Bosnian art scene, which makes the absence of it quite remarkable.

6.1.1 Institutional situation

First, we have to know why the situation is like this to make the contrast clear. The war had indeed a far-reaching impact on the art scene. In Sarajevo, the cultural life and institutions changed because of the war. Blackwood (2013) wrote the only essay regarding the current situation with a preview on 2014. The art scene in Bosnia is not a standard one. Today, almost 20 years after the end of the war, it is still affected by it, especially on the “official” level. This means it had consequences for institutions who were sponsored by higher authorities and were not autonomous. The role of the now almost 20 years old Dayton agreement is still significant in this context. As Borger (2012) declared in response to the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict, the Dayton agreement brought peace but conflict is still present in the country. This is something Blackwood also confirms: it was the reason for this cultural impasse as well as for other problems. The cultural situation is partly to be determined by the Bosnian state:

Given the almost total indifference of the BiH state to cultural infrastructure, and their utter failure to grasp the importance of the cultural economy to post-industrial twenty first century societies, this infrastructure can only be produced and developed by artists and art professionals themselves. Inevitably, this is an extremely slow and contentious process, and in the continuing absence of an overall cultural strategy for the whole country, the results on the ground, in this time of transition, will be varied and uncertain. As visual culture moves headlong into the private sector in the neo-liberal economy, so too BiH’s culture has been largely privatised, although, as we have seen, for legalistic reasons, rather than as a result of a political decision. (Blackwood 2013: 4)

This is probably the reason why the capital Sarajevo counts more galleries than actual museums. Artists and curators have to take matters into their own hands: “In a country where

44 the « official » art world suffers from a permanent existential crisis, artists who would normally be associated with the « underground » or « alternative » scenes have filled the vacuum left by a functioning set of « official » cultural discourses (Blackwood 2013: 9)” This is something Holland 61 also confirmed to me: since the art infrastructure in Bosnia is completely paralyzed given economic distress, many self-driven events and exhibits are to be found. According to her, these are not supported by the government. In this case, the internet is again a very welcome information source since field work is not possible. According to City.ba (2014), which collects all sights in Sarajevo, numerous galleries are to be found in the city. A gallery does not have to be sponsored by the state. This is why many galleries are set up just to fill this emptiness in terms of culture, as Blackwood states (2013: 5): “In such circumstances, artists, curators and art workers have to expand to fill the vacuum left by the absence of an official set of discourses on the regulation and evaluation of culture.” These galleries are set up both by Bosnians as well as foreigners (cf. infra). The biggest victim of the current situation until now is the National Museum in Sarajevo. The museum, which was 124 years old at that time, was closed in October 2012 because of funding problems due to the divided nation’s cultural institutions (Hooper 2012). This is a result of the war. More precisely of the Dayton agreement, which had to bring peace and resolve the problems in the country. It is striking that this is the reason since the museum has not been closed during a war: neither during the World Wars nor during the last one (Panjeta 2012). Various actions have been undertaken to keep the museum open. Employees have worked for a year without being paid and 9 months without electricity (this was cut off in January 2012). The museum was being held open by half as many people as needed. In newspapers, the indignation about this closing was clear (Panjeta 2012). This states again the neglect of cultural institutions by the state. The protest was made clear by putting a banner on the museum with the message „Muzej je zatvoren/The museum is closed“, which is still there. One year after the closing, there was still no solution found (Hina 2013) and today, the museum is still closed. With this case, it is proven that there is no money for large institutions. Galleries launched from personal initiative are much less expensive and do not rely on political situations.

6.1.2 Visible precense of the war

With the exception of the war’s presence in institutional affairs, it is directly visible in Sarajevo. Several places ensure the consistent presence of the war. The previously mentioned Galerija 11/07/1995 is one of them. A permanent commemoration of the Srebrenica massacre is to be found in the city center. By confronting its visitors with pictures of murdered men and

61 Answer given by Šejla Holland, the curator of Bosnian Born (cf. infra) to my question how she sees the art scene in Bosnia nowadays. 45 boys combined with videos of mothers who were confronted by the news that their sons or husbands are dead, this gallery makes sure it will never be forgotten and people from all over the world acknowledge this when visiting the gallery. In addition, visitors can learn about the war in a Sarajevo Siege exhibition62 and through city tours which focus on both Sarajevo as a city now and Sarajevo as a besieged area. In the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum, visitors are completely plunged into the atmosphere of war. Hence, we can state that war is still very present in Bosnia’s capital city. Of course there are still non-war related things to found. This is also the case in the art scene. We can notice a diverse offer in terms of exhibitions. In this case, the Duplex 100m² gallery can be an example since we cannot give an entire overview of exhibitions here. Pierre Courtin63, the initiator of the Memory Lane exhibition, is also initiator and owner of this gallery in Sarajevo64. Except for the Memory Lane exhibition, we can notice the war coming up in other recent exhibitions featuring Bosnian artists. Until the 9th of July, Courtin organized an exhibition in this gallery called Never Ending Stories, an exhibition which focused on 1914-2014, the period including both the beginning of the First World War and the Bosnian war. Courtin also supports Bosnian artists to exhibit abroad. For example, Milomir Kovačević whose war pictures we have seen before, is still exhibiting them today. In July, he exhibited pictures of the rock scene during the war: Rock'n'war' in Sarajevo in Zurich, which is again connected to the war. Courtin decided to exhibit both war-related works and non-war related works. Courtin puts works on display which are dealing with the war because he thinks it is important to see how memory is built through art. And of course, Bosnia and memory are firmly connected with each other, as was mentioned before in connection with Memory Lane65. This is an illustration of how war can occur in the art scene. From here on, we can see a clear contrast with the following exhibition.

62 I visited this exhibition myself. It shows life during the endless Siege through photographs, videos and additional information. 63 Courtin is one of these previously mentioned foreigners who also set up exhibitions in Bosnia. 64 The aim of this gallery is described as follows: “Od 2004. godine, Duplex100m² podržava umjetničku scenu u Sarajevu, Bosni i Hercegovini i na Balkanu, ugošćava mnoge umjetnike, omogućava im da proizvode, izlažu i predstavljaju svoje radove, osmišlja i organizuje izložbe na lokalnom, regionalnom i međunarodnom nivou, potiče vidljivost umjetnosti u Bosni i Hercegovini izvan njenih granica, naročito na međunarodnim sajmovima savremene umjetnosti, povezuje veliki broj aktera savremene umjetnosti – umjetnike, kustose, odgovorne osobe u institucijama, privatne partnere, a sve u cilju poticanja novih projekata i konkretizacije neobične platforme umjetničkih susreta .” Translation: “From 2004 on, Duplex 100 m² supports the art scene in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the Balkans, by hosting many artists; enabling them to produce; to express and to present their works, to plan and organize exhibitions on the local, regional and international level; to encourage the visibility of art in Bosnia and Herzegovina outside of its borders, especially in international fairs of contemporary art, connects a great number of actors in contemporary art- artists, curators, responsible persons in institutions, private partners and all people with the aim to stimulate new projects and concretizations of unusual platforms of artistic meetings.” http://www.duplex100m2.com/html/02aboutduplex/index.html. Consulted on 15/07/2014. 65 Information provided by Pierre Courtin in personal communication on 19/07/2014.

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6.2 Bosnian Born

Despite this huge impact and visibility of the war, it became clear that this does not always have to be the central idea. In the exhibition Bosnian Born, we can definitely notice a great absence of the theme. Since this exhibition is remarkable in its kind, we will commence from it to analyze absence. The exhibition dedicated to Bosnian art and featuring around 70 works by 27 Bosnian artists was held by the Green Gallery. This gallery was founded by Selja Holland, a Bosnian woman who came to the USA as a war refugee in 1994 and opened this gallery (Beall 2014). The exhibition was first held in Laguna Beach, then travelled to Boston and Washington D.C. (all USA countries) in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, the exhibition opened again at the 30th of May in St. Louis, USA (Beall 2014), a city which has more than 60,000 Bosnian inhabitants, the largest concentration in the US. The exhibiting artists have different profiles: some of them stayed in Bosnia during the war and live in Europe/US today. Others stayed in Bosnia during the war. The third group left Bosnia during the war but returned afterwards. Some had their education in Bosnia, others in the USA or elsewhere. The exhibition was set up as a commemoration of the war but Holland did not want to work on that topic in this exhibition. Because talent is so often forgotten when talking about Bosnia, she set up this exhibition around 20 years after the beginning of the war. She put her intention like this: “I did not want to do something showing the war and destruction. People know about that. I wanted to do something with art, to show that something as disruptive as war couldn’t kill our creative spirit” (Holland cited in Sacirbey 2012). We can see this being reflected in the exhibition catalogue which Holland provided during personal communication. As for the purpose, the exhibition shows that Bosnian artists exist and the art scene is still alive. However this does not mean the war has nothing to do with it. As Holland confirmed66, the war did affect the creativity of the artists and their journey was affected by the changed and reflected in their art. There is just more in their minds than these memories. All together, they try to create a positive vibe contrasting with the mainly negative association. This is already shown in the group of artists: they are members of all Bosnian ethnic groups. According to Saracević (2013), they “refuse nationalistic divisions and recognize importance of the cross-cultural influences which shaped and enriched them.” This had as a result that Bosnian, Serb and Croatian visitors were drawn towards the exhibition, which fostered friendlier relations (Sacirbey 2012). The exhibition is not limited to photographs, paintings and graphics, as was the case in the first part of this research. The displayed work consisted of various mediums: photographs,

66 Information on the exhibition was provided by Šejla Holland in personal communication on the 23rd of March 2014.

47 fashion design, graphic posters, installations, furniture, music etc. This to show how Bosnian artists nowadays are to be found in very different artistic areas. It is impossible to give a complete image of the exhibition. This is why the most striking works are picked out. We will search for their meanings. To give a representative image, the works are selected from various artistic genres.

6.2.1 Ivan Hrkaš: identity shift

One of the works exhibited are the photographs of Ivan Hrkaš 67 . In the Bosnian Born exhibition, he exhibited photographs in which we see familiar faces from the 20th and the beginning of the 21th century (Image 24): the 60’s model Twiggy, the singer Amy Winehouse, Frieda Kahlo and Anne Frank. However, these are not the real persons but Bosnian women depicting icons. The entire collection of pictures is therefore called ‘KOiKONE’ which means ‘like icons’. Anne Frank becomes Zana Frank and Amy Winehouse becomes Amila Winehouse. These are the first names of the famous Bosnian women posing for the picture together with the last name of the famous celebrities. Anne Frank is being “played” by Zana Marjanović, a Bosnian actress who can be known in the West by playing a lead role in Angelina Jolie’s film In the land of blood and honey. The fashion designer Ljiljana Majkić embodies Frida Kahlo (Radio Sarajevo 2010). By changing the identity of these icons, Hrkaš reflects on the overall artistic identity (Beall 2014). He came up with the idea of shooting this pictures after he saw a glimpse of Frida Kahlo in his friend Ljiljana Majkić. Having this idea in his head, he saw other friends becoming icons. Together with two of his friends, a stylist and a hairdresser, Hrkaš set up this project in one year. His purpose was not to cover up the features of these women but to create the image of the icons through wigs, make-up,… which complemented the models as well as the icons they were becoming. In that way, spectators can see various characteristics in them (Radio Sarajevo 2010).

6.2.1.1 Connections with Cindy Sherman

This is not the first time identity is questioned like this. From 1977 to 1980, the American Cindy Sherman made a series of approximately 70 pictures where she changed identity, her Untitled Film Stills (Image 25). Sherman is always the depicted person but because of changing of clothes, wigs and poses, she became someone else in the photos. She made vague references to actresses, genres, films but it was never directly. She made these series to reflect about art and identity. The role of art is to be found in the act of the photographs. ‘Film still’

67 Bosnian photographer and Assistant Professor photography at the Graphic Design Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo (catalogue information).

48 is the name of a picture when the act is between posing and acting. This is something we can apply to Hrkaš’s pictures: the woman is changing her role all the time. According to Sherman, she was doing a sort of ‘mini-performances’. To look at the identity part, the photographs are a reflection on the construction of identity. She thought identity was based on stereotyped images of women in the media, constructed by film, cinema and mass media (Sterckx&Jacobs 2014: 451). More than 40 years after Sherman shot these pictures, we can still apply the underlying thoughts on today’s society and Hrkaš’s pictures. According to Blackwood (2013), Hrkaš’s photographs are “constantly re-trace shifting borderlines, between hyper-realist painting, photography, scenography and theatre”. The theatrical part is the connection between his pictures and Sherman’s. By giving this model the look of existing and famous people, he creates a theatrical scene where a show is put on, as does Sherman. The aspect of media is undeniably still relevant. For Hrkaš’s pictures, it is important for the conception of the photographs that we know what they are about and who these people are. All of the photographs are famous portraits of these people and we recognize them because of the wide range of worldwide media. What Hrkaš wants to show us is that people can search for another identity and reach it, as we see in these pictures.

6.2.2 Ina Soltani

Including Ina Soltani in this overview allows us to see that the Bosnian Born exhibition was not limited to graphic art but also to tangible, wearable objects like designer clothes (Image 26). Ina Soltani is a fashion designer and also exhibiting at Bosnian Born. She was born in Sarajevo and was an exchange student in Southern California when the Bosnian war broke out in 1992. For two years, she could not maintain contact with her family. After the war, she went back to Bosnia but decided to continue living in the USA. She now lives and works in Los Angeles. As explained in her own words, she is “inspired by the dramatic narratives of her homeland, its artisan traditions and deep appreciation of the arts and crafts of the world”68. Her designed dresses and evening gowns are jaunty, colourful and worn by famous American women like Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez and many more. In the Bosnian Born exhibition catalogue, we see that Soltani has runway shows of her own brand. Apart from the fact that her clothes are being worn by famous people, this shows again that she is successful. The dresses are beautiful and definitely very positive. There are no traces of a war past to be found. Soltani is included in this chapter as evidence that artists can definitely separate themselves from the past. She declared that she is still inspired by her roots. However, by reaching America and being successful without giving any connection to the war proves that Bosnian people do not have to fix on to the war. They can be freed from

68 Information provided on Soltani’s website. http://inasoltani.com/#!/bio/. Consulted on 29/06/2014.

49 it and do what they want to achieve. She does not neglect the war but rather chooses not focus on it because it is not relevant for her designs. This can be a consequence of her relocating to the USA. By being separated from her homeland, Apart from Soltani, other designers are exhibiting at Bosnian Born: the design team Oshyosh, Milan Senić and Amila Hrustić.

6.2.3 Jewellery

Apart from the clothes that were displayed, we can also behold jewellery at the exhibition. Amila Hodzic and Mia Hebib displayed some of their creations (Image 27). While Hodzic creates natural wooden rings, Hebib uses materials that are not at all natural: metals. Hodzic shapes her creations in round, natural forms while Hebib focuses on lines in her jewellery. We also see a great difference in colours: Hodzic uses vivid colours while Hebib maintains the colour of the material: grey. Apart from these differences, there is a similarity: they both found their inspiration in nature. The lines in the metal jewels “mimics what happens in nature not intentionally, but, rather, intuitively” 69. In the wooden jewels, nature is being represented through the material. Jewellery is a serious contrast with the previously analysed art works like posters, paintings. So why is it relevant here? We can see here again the purpose of Holland occur: do not focus on the war but focus on creativity, found in other areas. Hodzic and Hebib found their inspiration in nature. Notwithstanding their origin and history, they choose not to show this.

6.2.4 Surrealistic photography

Not only the previously discussed Hrkaš, but also other photographers are displaying their work. However, they do not look like „ordinary“ pictures. Both Vanja Lisac and Dean Zulich create almost unimplausable scenes. Lisac combines pictures of people with a surrealist background of clouds. The colours of her pictures are adapted. This is the same for Zulich. In connection with this subject, we will focus on his photograph Mask nr. 1, which is part of his Incognito series (Image 28). A bizarre scene is being displayed here. Two people are wearing a ballet tutu. The one is wearing a white mask while the other one is wearing one sock. By taking a closer look, we see that the second person is not human but a mannequin. In the background, we see a truck carrying a house. Further on, a dead tree, an electrical wire and a barn are shown. This whole gives a very confusing impression to the spectator. Like Ivan Hrkaš’s pictures, Zulich’s work is to be placed in a rather recent development in photography. From 1970 on, photography gained influence in contemporary art. The spotlight was being

69 Quoted from the Bosnian Born catalogue. 50 placed on the artistic aspect of it and not merely on the depiction of an event. Hence, the pictorial aspect of the images stands out. This is called photo conceptualism. The content of these pictures are not the actual captured world but staged scenes (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). These characteristics are definitely to be applied to Zulich’s photograph. This is not an everyday scene. The design is definitely surrealistic. This tendency, with Dalí as its most famous representative, often places objects in situations that do not naturally fit together. As an effect, we get a rather confusing and incomprehensible image (Sterckx & Jacobs 2014). This is certainly the case with Zulich’s work: a tutu, a truck and a sock are composing a rather strange combination. We see a scene that can be a theatre scene, placed in a dream world scenery. However, this is an actual photograph. Zulich only made slight enhancements in terms of colours70. Despite of the artificial look of the photograph, the clothes used are all real. The photographer added some Surrealist elements to the picture, like the mannequin which is only standing there. The most remarkeable item in this image is the mask, worn by the left person. This is the element which makes the image estranging and mysterious and is the key item in the Incognito series: Zulich tries to conceal the identities of his subjects while adding a surrealistic feel to the image through this mask. The mask was owned by shockrocker Marilyn Manson. Zulich got it from Manson's prop stylist to use for this photograph and the next one in the Incognito series. If we look at all of these elements together, we do not see an underlying meaning represented through them. According to Zulich, this is the exact aim of the work. The real meaning is the questioning of this meaning: the observer has to find it for himself/herself. Zulich is a photographer but nevertheless, he cannot be compared to the previously discussed photographers in the photography analysis. This kind of photography does not have any direct communicational function in terms of capturing reality. The medium photography is only used here to create sheer art. Again, we can see here that art and creativity are put first. Despite the fact he had experienced the Bosnian war, it is not at all represented in Zulich’s work. He leaves the task of interpretation to the spectator.

6.4 Conclusion: war vs. absence

After closely analyzing the representation of the war in art, we could not fail to mention the possibility of absence in this context. The war is very present in the art scene, as is shown in the material that is to be found. The theme as a central idea for an exhibition is also a recurring phenomenon. The opposite however is not. The remarkable absence of the war in the Bosnian Born exhibition is clearly not a coincidence. Curator Šejla Holland organized this exhibition with the aim of not always depicting the war and not to continuously repeat the

70 Information on his work provided by Dean Zulich in personal communication on 5/08/2014.

51 same subject. The exhibiting Bosnian artists get the chance of showing another, less-known side of the country. The exhibition brings a strong message to the audience: “Yes, these artists are Bosnian but no, they are not only exhibiting war related works”. Some of the works do have a subtle connection with the war. Nevertheless, the central idea is not the war. And if this is the case, we have to ask the question why the exhibition receives a significant importance in this investigation. By having this opposition against the recurring war and destruction themes, the exhibition is nevertheless linked to it. This is why the absence of representation also has a place in the research. The aim to shift the focus to another point is made clear through these discussed works who have nothing to do with the Bosnian war. The positive, other side is shown: the country strives towards normalcy by presenting an artistic group full of potential. The main focus is indeed situated on the creativity of the artists instead of on their pasts, and trauma’s. This was also shown in the fact that the group of artists is representative of the ethnic groups in Bosnia. We can make an attempt to explain this absence. Does this mean the war is not a long lasting theme in artists’ lives? Several interpretations are imaginable. It is possible that the events fade away in the artist’s mind. This can be the case if he relocates, like many of the Bosnian Born artists had done. A lot of them moved to the USA and started a new life and career with hopeful aims. Hebib, Soltani and Zulich did move from Bosnia. Because of this displacement, it is possible that the memory fades away. This is a possible explanation. It is remarkable that an exhibition like this takes places in the USA, which could mean the artists there are more evolved with the healing process. However, we can already say Hrkaš and Hodzic did not move so this would be the exception to the rule. 20 years later, the element of time can also have an influence here. It is possible that the need to deal with the war through art fades away. Also, the age of the artist can have an impact: younger people can have the tension of letting go easier than older people. This is due to the intensity with which they experienced the war. Yet, this is very personal and is not to be measured or analyzed. Apart from the reasons mentioned, another interpretation is possible. The work an artist makes is his or her own choice. Letting go of the war can be an personal choice. This does not mean the artist has forgotten what has happened. Rather, he decided not to focus on it. This can definitely be a choice to make since artists are still creating works related to war (cf. Memory Lane). In both of these cases, we can state that an artist can indeed loosen from their past. However, the hidden reason behind this can be divergent and depends on the personal past and healing process of the artist. Regardless of the reason behind this absence, we can definitely see a particular approach in the Bosnian Born exhibition. It shows a recently made choice on the subject. Holland chose not to depict the war while Courtin decided to do so in the same time period with Memory Lane. This shows that various approaches are definitely possible: the war can be consciously shown or not shown.

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7. Conclusion

The war definitely had an immense influence on the art scene, both at the institutional level and on the creativity of Bosnian artists. After analyzing these selected works, we can formulate some concrete insights as an answer to the questions raised. As Finci (1993) described in his research after Holocaust art, the complex nature of war and destruction can never be fully represented through art and images. This means that each image connected with it is only a ‘snapshot’. We made this clear by analyzing various work which were made in a wide period of time. Each of them only represents a certain moment and event: the Miss Sarajevo contest, criticism through graffiti and posters, people who died because of the war, war crimes,… All these pictures show different facets which might together be able to show the war in one full picture. We look at these images differently in comparison to ‘normal’ pictures. The paintings and pictures create strong emotions: these are confronting images that force people to look at them intensely and make them consider and reflect on them because of their nature: you just cannot look away from them. Having analyzed works in diverse artistic fields, we could notice a wide variety of influences used to depict this war: Realism with Howson, photo painting through appropriation with Milak, Pop art tendencies with Đerković… Despite of these very contrasting movements in the analyzed works, we can clearly see three distinct possible approaches. These can be an answer to the question how the war has been represented and how people have been dealing with it. We can classify the analyzed works in this way. However, we have to be aware of the fact that categorization is never unchangeable and can be extremely personal in terms of interpretation. Art is so powerful it has the strength to blur these methods into entity. The first approach is explicit representation. This is where we can directly see war scenes. War photography of people who died because of the war are explicitly shown to the observer. Lyon’s photograph of a woman lying dead on the streets shows how dangerous life was during the war. In this approach, we can particularly find images in which we directly see the involved people and objects. The descriptive element is omitted here. Not only photographs can show us what it really looked like. Peter Howson’s paintings are therefore an example as well in this approach. He harshly displayed the raping scene which strikes the viewer immediately. There is nothing symbolic to be found: it is painted as it could have been in reality. He only made slight changes in the body parts to add an expressive element. For that reason, we can see this approach as very intense. Through the explicit representation, these images immediately create strong emotions which may range from disgust to fascination. What strikes here, is that the works here are made closely to the events. The

53 photographs are taken during the war while Howson’s paintings are created shortly afterwards. The closer to the events, the more explicit the representation can be. The second approach is the non-explicit representation. We can situate the graphic works and the graffiti here. The war has undoubtedly been an inspiration to shape them. Although war is not directly represented, it is visible through their abstract design and their meaning. Graphic works and graffiti have not been made with the same intention. In the art works, artists are searching for different ways to express the situation and to deal with it. As has been discussed, this is a result of a tendency towards abstractionism. In this case, they made the choice not to depict a war scene (like Howson did) or to capture people on the street during the war. Rather, they create a situation in which the observer will search for information and will reflect on it. This information is sometimes hidden behind symbolic elements. Here, we can mention the Smoking kills work by Đerković as an example. By using the design of a cigarette pack, he creates an additional dimension in his work. The graffiti on the other hand was not intended as art but as a statement by the Dutch soldiers in Potičari. This represents the war through abstract forms as well. The words reveal an underlying meaning to the viewer and represent the war in yet another non-explicit way. The third approach is the absence of representation. In the Bosnian Born works which were discussed, the artists show that their creativity is still standing strong. They do not need to constantly revisit the issue of memory in their work. By pushing away the war theme, they are nevertheless still connected to it. This is a logical consequence: their past cannot be erased. However, the exhibition succeeded in its plan to show that other things are to be related to Bosnia: fashion design, Surrealistic photography, sculpture,… This focus on other things can be explained through various reasons. The memory of the war can fade away with the consequence that artists do not represent it anymore. However, another explanation is more likely: the artists make the conscious choice to focus on other aspects of their country and their creativity. By selecting these various approaches, the main characteristics of the works discussed in this research are exposed. We can state that the Bosnian war has been represented like this. However, it is the viewer’s own choice where he would place these works and representations. Because of the ambiguity of art, various possibilities exist. The paintings by Milak are an excellent example in this case. He painted a war picture, almost 20 years after the facts. Is this explicit representation or non-explicit because of the appropriation? I leave this to the viewer. We can say that these works are all dealing with the war in many various ways and numerous intensities. Art is the medium in which every feeling and idea can merge together: memory, critique, grief. This is therefore the power it possesses. In this way, it transcends exact science and will it always be open for personal interpretation. Apart from the question of how war has been represented through art, the matter of “healing” through art was mentioned. Almost 20 years after the occurrence of the war, we can

54 see that there are various ways to deal with the consequences. These are represented through the two discussed exhibitions: Memory Lane and Bosnian Born. Both are situated in the present day and are exhibiting Bosnian artists. They were all hit by the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia in an earlier stage of life. However, the focus of both these exhibitions is completely different. Can we see if the time distance between the war and today affects the visibility and presence of war in the contemporary work in and from Bosnia? Do artists tend to get beyond the need of representing the war? As we saw through the analyzed works, one correct answer to these question does not exist. In Memory Lane, artists showed their recent art works dealing with the war. They certainly did not get beyond this need of representing it. Maybe this could be a way for them to manage the memories. Maybe it has only been their inspiration and does it not necessarily means their trauma is healed through it. In Bosnian Born, most of the artists do not deal with the war. Does this mean they forgot the war or that their trauma is healed? We can never know the exact answer to this question since this is personal for each artist. Maybe they need art to deal with it or maybe they just do not feel the urge to depict it. The complete forgetting of a life-determining event like this war is a rather implausible option. Another option can be that they focus on other aspects of their lives and creativity because war is already enough represented. This question can be the basis for a broader, deeper investigation on the Bosnian art scene. This “healing” process is not yet going on for the institutional situation. This has to be mentioned since the external aspect of institutions and support underlines the artists production in Bosnia nowadays. Artists will have to keep on being creative in terms of opening exhibitions and galleries since the framework in which they create is broken. Because of the budgetary situation as a consequence of the war and the Dayton Agreement, this is the only (affordable) option. These galleries and private initiatives are keeping the art scene alive since they are independent and extend beyond politics. What was striking during this research is that most of these Bosnian artists are connected to each other through common exhibitions and the art scene in general. They do might have the ability to further inflate new life into the art scene. However, we cannot make a statement on the further development. Nor can we predict whether the subject of war will still be present in the upcoming years. Time will tell.

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8. Bibliography

Books

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Batchen, Geoffrey, et al. (eds.) 2012 Picturing Atrocity: Photography in Crisis. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.

Beaumont, Matthew 2007 Adventures in Realism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Blunt, Anthony 1958 Nicolas Poussin. New York: Bollingen Foundation.

Brandon, Laura 2007 Art and war. New York : Palgrave Macmillan.

Delapierre, E. 2004 Rubens contre Poussin: La querelle du coloris dans la peinture française à la fin du XVIIe siècle. Ludion .

Facos, Michelle 2011 An introduction to nineteenth-century art. Oxon: Routledge.

Finci, Predrag 1993 Umjetnost uništenog: estetika, rat i Holocaust. Zagreb: Izdanja Antibarbarus.

Foster, Hal et al. (eds.) 2011 Art since 1900. Modernism, antimodernism, postmodernism. London: Thames&Hudson .

Lovrenović, Ivan 2001 Bosnia: a cultural history. London: Saqi books.

Museum Ludwig Cologne 1997 Fotografie van de 20e eeuw. Cologne : Benedikt Taschen Verlag.

Petö, Andrea, et al. (eds.) 2009 Faces of Death: Visualising History. Pisa: Edizioni Plus.

Sterckx, M. & S. Jacobs 2014 Overzicht van de Beeldende kunst II. Gent: Academia Press.

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Swinnen, J.M. 1992 De paradox van de fotografie: een kritische geschiedenis . Schoten, België : Westland nv .

Weijs, Menno 2008 Bosnië-Hercegovina. Rijswijk: Elmar B.V.

Withaeckx, Sofie 2004 Verkrachting als oorlogswapen. Antwerpen: I.P.I.S. Research.

Scientific articles

Brown, Milton W. 1971 The History of Photography as Art History. Art Journal 31/1: 31-32+ 36.

Helms, Elissa 2008 East and West kiss: Gender, Orientalism, and Balkanism in Muslim-Majority Bosnia- Herzegovina. Slavic Review: 88-119.

Jünger, Ernst & Anthony Nassar 1993 War and Photography. New German Critique 59 (Special Issue on Ernst Jünger Spring-Summer): 24-26.

Ley, David & Roman Cybriwsky 1974 Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 64/4: 491-505.

Rolston, Bill 2009 « The Brothers on the Walls »: International Solidarity and Irish Political Murals. Journal of Black Studies 39/3: 446-470.

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Online sources

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AP. 2012 Beauty shone out amid the bloodshed. Consulted on the 19th of June 2014. Accessible via http://www.theage.com.au/world/beauty-shone-out-amid-the-bloodshed- 20120405-1wfls.html

Beall, Dickson 2014 Bosnian Born. Consulted on the 29th of June 2014. Accessible via http://www.westendword.com/Articles-Art-c-2014-06-03-192465.114137-Bosnian- Born.html#axzz3618xUBta

Berkoff, Steven 2005 The Best of Times. The Worst of Times. Consulted on the 28th of June 2014. Accessible via http://discreet-uk.com/state-of-art/ISSUE%20THREE/howson.html

Blackwood, Jonathan 2013 The art of Ivan Hrkaš. Consulted on the 29th of June 2014. Accessible via http://sarajlijacult.com/2013/12/19/the-art-of-ivan-hrkas/

Sarajevo Genocide Blog 2008 Remembering concentration camps in Bosnia. Consulted on the 28th of June 2014. Accessible via http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.be/2008/08/concentration-camps- in-bosnia.htm

Borger, Julian 2012 Bosnian war 20 years on: peace holds but conflict continues to haunt. Consulted on the 16th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/04/bosnian-war-20-years-on

Bryan, Melissa 2011 Bosnian Girl, by Šejla Kamerić. Consulted on the 5th of June 2014. Accessible via http://melissabryan.tumblr.com/post/7510090913/bosniangirl#notes

Calabresi, Massimo 2012 20 Years Later: The Bosnian Conflict in Photographs. Consulted on the 4th of June 2014. Accessible via http://lightbox.time.com/2012/04/05/bosnia/#11

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Cerkez, Aida & Sabina Niksic 2012 1993 Bosnian beauty queen stood up against war. Consulted on the 5th of June 2014. Accessible via http://cnsnews.com/news/article/1993-bosnian-beauty-queen-stood- against-war

City.ba 2014 Umjetnost i kultura: galerije. Consulted on the 14th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.city.ba/umjetnost-kultura/galerije/

Coffey, Laura 1999 Riding down Sniper's Alley. Consulted on the 5th of June 2014. Accessible via http://www.praguepost.cz/archivescontent/31082-ridding-down-sniper-s-alley.html

Danas 2012 Miss opkoljenog Sarajeva 20 godina poslije. Consulted on the 4th of June 2014. Accessible via http://danas.net.hr/balkan/miss-opkoljenog-sarajeva-20-godina-poslije

Filipović, Nadan 2014 Safet Zec-Srebrenica. Consulted on the 20th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.bosnjackooko.com/index.php?option=com_joomgallery&view=category& catid=1&Itemid=79

Galerie du Jour 2014 Memory Lane. Consulted on the 29th of May 2014. Accessible via www.galeriedujour.com

Galeria 11/07/1995 2014 O Galeriji. Consulted on the 5th of June 2014. Accessible via http://galerija110795.ba/o-galeriji-110795/

Hawton, Nick 2014 Conflicting Truths: The Bosnian War. Consulted on the 4th of May 2014. Accessible via http://www.historytoday.com/nick-hawton/conflicting-truths-bosnian-war

Hina 2013 Zemaljski muzej BiH zatvoren već godinu dana, rješenja i dalje nema. Consulted on the 18th of July 2014. Accessible via http://dalje.com/hr-svijet/zemaljski-muzej-bih- zatvoren-vec-godinu-dana-rjesenja-i-dalje-nema/486002

Hooper, John 2012 Bosnia's National Museum is latest victim of political funding crisis. Consulted on the 15th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/bosnia-national-museum-funding- crisis

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Kashi, Ed 2013 Evolution of War Photography. Consulted on the 6th of July 2014. Accessible via http://thephotosociety.org/blog/evolution-of-war-photography/

Louvre 2014 The Rape of the Sabine Women. Consulted on the 26th of March 2014. Accessible via http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rape-sabine-women

Morris, Roderick Cornway 2010 A Bosnian Artist's Elegiac Images. Consulted on the 11th of July 2014. Accessbile via http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/arts/16iht-rartzec.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014 The Abduction of the Sabine Women. Consulted on the 26th of March 2014. Accessible via http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the- collections/437329

National Gallery London 2014 The Rape of the Sabine Women. Consulted on the 28th of March 2014. Accessible via http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/peter-paul-rubens-the-rape-of-the- sabine-women

NOS a 2014 Herbouwd stadhuis Sarajevo open. Consulted on the 13th of July 2014. Accessible via http://nos.nl/artikel/646027-herbouwd-stadhuis-sarajevo-open.html

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Panjeta, Almir 2012 Zatvoren Zemaljski muzej BiH. Consulted on the 15th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/zatvoren-zemaljski-muzej-bih/121004059#13

Radio Sarajevo 2012 KOiKONE Ivana Hrkaša u Galeriji Novi hram ( INTERVJU+FOTO). Consulted on the 1st of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.radiosarajevo.ba/novost/30182/koikone-ivana-hrkasa-u-galeriji-novi- hram-intervjufoto

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Sacirbey, Omar 2012 Exhibit celebrates creativity and talent in Bosnia. Consulted on the 4th of May 2014. Accessible via http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2012/12/11/bosnian- born-art-exhibit-aims-change-image-raise- support/8DPLOLlyVveRwBLjRHn2xJ/story.html

Sadiković, Mirna 2012 Sarajevska crvena linija: 20. godišnjica opsade. Consulted on the 30th of June 2014. Accessible via http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/sarajevska_crvena_linija_20_godisnjica_ops ade/24538949.html

Saracević, Dzenita Mehic 2013 You're invited: "Bosnian Born". Consulted on the 2nd of August 2014. Accessible via http://www.foresthillsconnection.com/style/youre-invited-bosnian-born/

Sarajevo Culture Bureau 2014 Interview with Damir Radović. Consulted on the 26th of July 2014. Accessible via http://sarajlijacult.com/2014/06/05/interview-with-damir-radovic/

Selwyn-Holmes, Alex 2013 Srebrenica; Darko Bandić. Consulted on the 17th of June 2014. Accessible via http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/srebrenica-darko-bandic/

Sito-Sucic, Daria 2014 Sarajevo reopens landmark city hall and library destroyed in war . Consulted on the 14th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/09/us- bosnia-cityhall-idUSKBN0DP0XO20140509

Soltani, Ina 2014 Bio. Consulted on the 29th of June 2014. Accessible via http://inasoltani.com/#!/bio/

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T.M. 2012 Video: Miss Opkoljenog Sarajevo prije 20 godina i danas. Consulted on the 5th of June 2014. Accessible via http://www.index.hr/xmag/clanak/video-miss-opkoljenog- sarajeva-prije-20-godina-i-danas/608362.aspx

Tate 2014 Plum Grove 1994. Consulted on the 29th of June 2014. Accessible via https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/howson-plum-grove-t06961

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The Atlantic 2012 20 years since the Bosnian war. Consulted on the 11th of July 2014. Accessible via http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/04/20-years-since-the-bosnian-war/100278/

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Catalogues

Bosnian Born Catalog 2011-2013

Blackwood, Jonathan 2013 Contemporary Art in B&H. Special edition Memory Lane 2013.

Courtin 2014 Memory Lane (additional information provided at the exhibition)

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9. Appendix

What is war art?

Image 1: Nicolas Poussin, The Abduction of the Sabine women. 1633–34

(New York Version)

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Image 2: Nicolas Poussin, The Rape of the Sabine women. 1637-38

(The Paris Version)

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Image 3: Peter-Paul Rubens, The Rape of the Sabine Women. 1635-40

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Image 4: Francisco de Goya, The Third of May 1808. 1816

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Image 5: Pablo Picasso, Guernica. 1937

Images 6-9: Tendency towards abstractionism.

Image 6 : Duchamp, Nu descendant un escalier. 1912.

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Image 7: Miro, Nocturne. 1940.

Image 8: Newman, Concord. 1949

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The Bosnian war in painting

Image 9: Peter Howson,

2 become 1. 1997

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Image 10: Peter Howson, Plum Grove, 1994

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Image 11: Safet Zec, Mani sul volto (Hands in the face). 2003

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Image 12: Radenko Milak, 02. April 1992, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2008-2010

Illustration of the slightly different paintings.

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Image 13: Haviv. 1992

The Bosnian war in photography

Image 14: Santiago Lyon. Picture taken on the 11th of June 1992 in Sarajevo, Bosnia

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Image 15: Paul Lowe. Picture taken in June 1992, Sarajevo, Bosnia.

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Image 16: Jerôme Delay. Picture taken on the 29th of May 1993 in Sarajevo, Bosnia

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Image 17: Darko Bandić. Picture taken in July 1995 in Tuzla, Bosnia

Connected with this picture: painting by Michaël Borremans

Image 18

The Angel. 2013

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Image 19: Milomir Kovačević. Pictures taken on the 26th of August 1992.

Vijecnica

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The Bosnian war in graphic representation

Image 20: Tarik Samarah, United Nothing – Srebrenica Series. 2005

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Image 21: Šejla Kamerić. 2003

Original picture taken by Tarik Samarah, 2002.

Kamerić exhibited this poster at the Memory Lane exhibition in 2014.

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Image 22: Andrej Đerković.

To Forget Kills. 2005

Exposition of the work at the Memory Lane exhibition.

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Image 23: Damir Radović, Le Sacre d’un Cris. 2014

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Absence of representation

Image 24: Ivan Hrkaš, KOiKONE. 2010

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Image 25: Cindy Sherman, Untitled film stills. 1977-1980

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Image 26: Ina Soltani

Soltani’s designs are to be found on the runway and red carpet.

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Image 27: Jewellery Amila Hodzic

Mia Hebib

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Image 28: Dean Zulich, Incognito, 2012

Second picture in this series:

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