The Bosnian Case: Art, History and Memory Elmedin Žunić ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3694-7098 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Melbourne Faculty of Fine Arts and Music July 2018 Abstract The Bosnian Case: Art, History and Memory concerns the representation of historic and traumatogenic events in art through the specific case of the war in Bosnia 1992-1995. The research investigates an aftermath articulated through the Freudian concept of Nachträglichkeit, rebounding on the nature of representation in the art as always in the space of an "afterness". The ability to represent an originary traumatic scenario has been questioned in the theoretics surrounding this concept. Through The Bosnian Case and its art historical precedents, the research challenges this line of thinking, identifying, including through fieldwork in Bosnia in 2016, the continuation of the war in a war of images. iii Declaration This is to certify that: This dissertation comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used. This dissertation is approximately 40,000 words in length, exclusive of figures, references and appendices. Signature: Elmedin Žunić, July 2018 iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, my sincere thanks to my supervisors Dr Bernhard Sachs and Ms Lou Hubbard. I thank them for their guidance and immense patience over the past four years. I also extend my sincere gratitude to Professor Barbara Bolt for her insightful comments and trust. I thank my fellow candidates and staff at VCA for stimulating discussions and support. My gratitude must also be given to Avdo Huseinović, Senada Softić-Telalović and Nermina Zildžo for their support and encouragement while on the research field trip in Bosnia. My appreciation goes to Norway, a country that had offered a home to my family when we had none. A country that encouraged and provided me with an opportunity to seek and find knowledge and education. The most significant gratitude goes to my family who has always provided unconditional support and been there for me. Last but no means least, I would like to dedicate this research to all of those who have been affected by the war in Bosnia and those who carry the weight of trauma within their memories. v vi Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iii Declaration ................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... v Contents..................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................. 9 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 13 Notes on Methodology ............................................................................................. 17 Art as a method .................................................................................................... 17 Knowledge precision: Listening (in) the presence of art ........................................ 18 Section I: Nachträglichkeit ....................................................................................... 20 The concept and the word ..................................................................................... 20 Between determinism and hermeneutics ............................................................... 24 A collective turn ................................................................................................... 25 Memory studies and Post-memory ........................................................................... 26 Reading trauma ........................................................................................................ 28 Section II: Precedence............................................................................................... 33 The German Case: Decades of Intellectual and Moral Ambivalence ........................ 34 Historikerstreit ...................................................................................................... 34 Wolf Vostell: Dé-collage Happenings (the 1950s and 60s).................................... 37 Joseph Beuys: Expose the Wound ......................................................................... 40 Anselm Kiefer: Declaration of War ...................................................................... 43 Claude Lanzmann: Speaking of Shoah .................................................................. 47 The Soviet Case: Alienated Reality .......................................................................... 50 Moscow Conceptualism ........................................................................................ 51 Section III: The Bosnian Case .................................................................................. 58 The Collapse of the Neighbour, Death of the Brother ............................................... 58 Art ........................................................................................................................... 60 Šejla Kamerić ....................................................................................................... 61 Ab uno disce omnes ......................................................................................... 61 Bosnian Girl .................................................................................................... 63 Marina Abramović................................................................................................ 67 vii Balkan Baroque ............................................................................................... 67 Section IV: The Trials and the Media/Film ............................................................. 70 Film ......................................................................................................................... 72 Section V: Materiality ............................................................................................... 75 On Writing and Concrete ......................................................................................... 75 Part 1. ...................................................................................................................... 75 Doris Salcedo ....................................................................................................... 75 Rachel Whiteread ................................................................................................. 80 Part 2. ...................................................................................................................... 84 Concrete ............................................................................................................... 85 Epicentre ......................................................................................................... 85 (un)documenting ............................................................................................. 88 Writing ................................................................................................................. 90 Typewriter ....................................................................................................... 91 Monuments ..................................................................................................... 94 Memory as a distant domain ............................................................................ 96 Geen Doorgang! ............................................................................................ 100 Inverted Memoirs .......................................................................................... 103 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 105 Representability: The Case for Art ......................................................................... 105 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 109 Appendix No. I: The Bosnian Case: Art, History and Memory (Margaret Lawrence Gallery School of Art, University of Melbourne 29th June - 9th of July 2017) .... 123 Appendix No. II: Field Trip .................................................................................... 143 Trnopolje - Prijedor ............................................................................................... 143 Potočari - Srebrenica .............................................................................................. 147 Appendix No. III: Slobodan Milošević’s Speech (Complete) ................................. 159 Appendix No. IV: Interview transcripts ................................................................ 162 Transcript #1.......................................................................................................... 162 Transcript #2.......................................................................................................... 164 Transcript #3.......................................................................................................... 165 viii List of Figures Figure