08. 04. 2012.

WARM - War Art Reporting Memory Center in Sarajevo

On the initiative of the International theatre festival MESS, its cultural programme Memory Module and war-reporters with Remy Ourdan in front, conference that took place at the occasion of 20th anniversary of the beginning of the siege resulted with the new project. WARM Centre Sarajevo – War, Art, Reporting, Memory Centre should be global Centre for war reporting and war art in most positive sense. At its birth, idea received initial support by the Mayor and the Cantonal Ministry of culture and sport, while phases of the constituting the formal structure is yet to come. «Beside it is being globally knows as a symbol of resistance, with this Centre Sarajevo could be recognized as a place that puts people together”, said one of the initiators, Le Monde’s Remy Ourdan.

As being announced at the Conference by Nihad Kresevljakovic, art director of the Memory Module, people that fought together with people of Sarajevo for better world, Gary Knight and John Jones presented in multimedia photo-book consisted of the photos donated by 45 photographers covering the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The book should be published and publicly presented in July 2012. Although his photos are not in the book, bh. photographer Zijah Gafic, is helping the preparation of the book for printing. Their contribution to the conference and also the photo-book gave photographers Wade Goddard, Enric Marti, Jerome Delay.

Journalist Boro Kontic pointed out that main problem of propaganda reporting is that it provided legitimacy to each crime, concentration camp and even siege of Sarajevo. Well-known BBC journalist Allan Little, co-author of «Death of Yugoslavia», recalled from his memory war experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina marking the fascinating resistance of the Bosnian people that simply did not wanted to be defeated. He posed the question does war reporting changed situation in Bosnia, having in mind that 2 years before the Srebrenica Genocide their reports alarmed the international community about the situation in this small town of Eastern Bosnia.

Oscar winning director, Danis Tanovic and his colleague International theatre festival MESS Director, Dino Mustafic described what it was like to do some art under the siege. «It is important to take a stand, to have your attitude and to offer the world the truth and reality», Tanovic concluded. «Through art one can address the issue of the hardest time in our history in most noble way. Through that experience we learned to be better and show some empathy, Mustafic pointed out reminding that all those war experiences taught him that ethics is undividable of aesthetic. 

Among those who brought up their Sarajevo experiences from the siege were Joel Brandt, it’s his first time visit since end of the siege to be in Sarajevo and also Aida Cerkez who is still reporting for one of the leading news agencies – Associated Press and her colleague Amra Abadzic Loewe that used to work for Reuters. As a part of the conference virtual FAMA collection was presented as a largest multi-media archive of the Sarajevo Siege (www.famacollection.org), Youth Initiative for Human Rights BiH, and Post-conflict Research Center. Arma Tanovic announced exhibition of items that belonged to children killed in the besieged Sarajevo while video-trailer announced photo-exhibition of Velija Hasanbegovic "Drina/Perucac", both part of the Memory Module.

Memory Module 2012 is taking place until May 9, 2012.