On July 11, 1995, Srebrenica, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saw the weight of an unspeakable atrocity. It represented one of the largest acts of ethnic cleansing in Europe since the Holocaust. Agreements that allowed the Bosnian Serb army to inhumanely slaughter more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys. That tragic event was carried out in one of the United Nations-designated safe zones. The massacre has since been classified as a genocide by two UN courts: the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
An exhibition that opened today at the National Library in Sarajevo marks this calamitous chapter in history for the hundredth time. This year commemorates the 30th anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica. The installation, called “The Mother’s Scarf,” features more than 3,000 handmade scarves and shawls. These stunning works were gifted by human rights defenders, survivors and women from all over the world. This powerful tribute is a testament to the strength and determination of all those who have fought and continue to fight for justice. It showcases their unity and pact to commemorate the victims.
Fatima Klempic Dautbasic, a survivor who escaped Srebrenica on foot through the mountains, shared her horrifying ordeal. “I walked that path with men in 1995 for seven days and seven nights I walked through the forests in the most difficult imaginable conditions,” she shared. “We always say that we felt like hunted animals, and it really is how it was.”
On that fateful day in 1995, they track down thousands of men and boys post-massacre. At the same time, women and children were left vulnerable to deportation. Thousands of victims were buried in hastily dug mass graves on the island. Then, there was intent to hide the crimes by moving their bodies. DNA analyses have become an indispensable resource for making identifications of remains. It gives families the closure that they need in their continued search for answers.
Since then, almost 50 of these perpetrators have been sentenced to over 700 years in prison. These very sentences were largely shaped by the testimony from survivors, most of whom were female. These Intergenerational Justice Leaders have been instrumental in making sure that justice is finally done. They fight tooth and nail to ensure that their loved ones are never forgotten.
Velma Saric, one of the exhibition’s co-organizers, illustrated the need for women’s solidarity best. Having begun with scarves and shawls of the Srebrenica mothers, we mobilized solidarity of women from all over the world. We now have over 3,000 scarves and shawls donated by human rights activists from around the globe, including some VIPs, and they are all equally important to us.
The exhibition provides a courageous, unflinching portrayal of horrors. It calls to mind the continuing fight for justice and healing. Klempic Dautbasic pointed out the significance of remembering those who did not survive to see their loved ones laid to rest. “To me, this exhibition is particularly valuable because it includes portraits of mothers who passed away without completing their mission to find their murdered children and help them find peace in the valley of white gravestones.”
As every visitor learns when they walk through the exhibition, Encounter is much more than an artful display of fabric. They dive into a deep sea of tales, passion, and community connection. Nour Hassan, an artist participating in the project, spoke to the emotional complexity translated through art. Second, it points out how our emotions and feelings are universal — everyone experiences them but in different ways and in different levels of intensity. I like to hone in on micro expressions. Instead, my aim is to do what painters have historically done— present the soul of the subject I’m seeing.
