Weavers from the Bosnian women’s group, Association Bosnian Family (BOSFAM), will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on July 11th with a powerful exhibition of quilts, woven with the names of over 200 genocide victims, including their own relatives.
The ten hand-woven quilts will become a permanent exhibition at the former United Nations Dutch Battalion compound in Potočari, near the town of Srebrenica, where tens of thousands of refugees sought international protection before the massacre. The base remains a powerful symbol of the UN’s failure to protect civilians and prevent genocide. More than 50,000 visitors are expected on July 11th for the annual commemoration.
“No one will ask about the missing after we are gone,” said Beba Hadžić, BOSFAM’s founder and director. “The memorial quilts will last for many years and be a memory forever.”
The Srebrenica genocide began on July 11, 1995, after the town’s defense collapsed following three years of siege by the Bosnian Serb Army. More than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were separated from their families and killed. The massacre is often labeled the worst in Europe since World War II.
The ten quilts each carry the names of 20 to 25 victims, some organized into groups including teachers, children, and women who remained at the side of their husbands, as well as quilts dedicated to victims of similar massacres in Bosnia during the war. The quilts will be arranged around a large central carpet designed for the 20th anniversary and can be viewed on the BOSFAM website. In total, BOSFAM has created 16 quilts that carry the names of more than 350 victims.
The BOSFAM weavers will also participate in the reburial of genocide victims whose remains have been identified in the past year. As of June 2015, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) expects to rebury 135 victims on July 11, including the son-in-law of BOSFAM weaver Zifa Bumbulović.
Ms. Bumbulović expressed how difficult this time of year is for her and her family and how working with BOSFAM helps her cope. “When I am weaving, I am not crying,” she said. The ICMP has officially identified 6,584 victims since 2003.
Mrs. Hadžić established BOSFAM in 1993 for women displaced by the Bosnian war. The organization expanded after the Srebrenica massacre, and many grieving members took to weaving traditional Bosnian ćilimi (carpets) as a form of occupational therapy and to earn an income for themselves and their families. BOSFAM has also helped members return to their homes in Srebrenica.
The idea for the memorial quilts was developed in 2006 by BOSFAM and the Washington, D.C.-based organization, The Advocacy Project (AP), which began working within Bosnian civil society in 1999 and has sent 13 graduate students (Peace Fellows) to volunteer at BOSFAM since 2003.
The 2015 Fellow, Sarah Reichenbach, helped BOSFAM assemble the July 11th quilt exhibition. BOSFAM quilts have been shown in exhibitions around the world, including at the United Nations in New York.
Before the war, Ms. Hadžić served as principal of the Srebrenica primary school and narrowly escaped with her life before fleeing to Tuzla. She remains committed to the idea of a single multiethnic society. “Bosnia is not the best country in the world, but it is my country,” she said. “I have the responsibility to stay and work towards the well-being of Bosnia.”
ST/ photo advocacynet
