In some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), murals adorn cities, celebrate peace and coexistence, and represent the creativity of youth, while in other parts of BiH, murals glorify war criminals and touch the painful wounds of those who survived. Such murals in public space do not only send a message of the past, they are also a kind of last line of defense of a backward radical nationalist ideology, said the sociologist, philosopher, and professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, Asim Mujkic.
Last week, in the center of Banja Luka, a new mural was painted with the image of Ratko Mladic, sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and war crimes. The mural provoked reactions from returnees, who, out of fear and pressure, do not dare to report similar incidents.
This mural, as professor Mujkic points out, can be observed as an example of an attempt to confirm the presence of radical nationalist ideology through public space, despite the fact that such displays of power actually reflect weakness in the political and social sphere.
“It is an attempt, in an illustrative way, since it is exposed in public space, to try to draw attention to that ideology and to the goals for which such a type of radical politics stands,” he emphasizes.
By their very presence, murals can create an atmosphere that provokes a sense of pride and belonging; in this case, murals go beyond their role as mere decorations and become powerful catalysts for revising history, influencing the perception of space and social relations, especially among those who feel threatened by this content.
Mujkic emphasizes that murals are more an expression of losing the dominant position in public space, because the authorities in Republika Srpska (RS) do not need such displays of power when it has “successfully mastered institutions, procedures, media in a society.”
“Murals are what they are, at least according to our legislation, a shameful provocation,” emphasizes Mujkic.
The High Representative Valentin Inzko, in July 2021, imposed a ban on glorifying war criminals or denying war crimes through amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH.
According to the amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, approving, denying, downplaying, or attempting to justify the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes will be punished by imprisonment from six months to five years.
To the question whether glorifying war criminals is becoming cultural heritage for many young generations, Mujkic answers that it is an attempt to present such figures as role models to young generations.
He adds that it is very difficult to assess how successful this is, because we live in an age of hyper-digitalization in which the interests of youth change quickly and rarely align with outdated nationalist ideals.
“These attempts actually represent a desire to influence young generations to continue, but I think that as time goes by, the number of followers and those who take it seriously is smaller and smaller,” he concludes.
Murals dedicated to war criminals represent a strategic move of the authorities, similar to in Serbia, and after the launch of citizens’ petitions to remove them, local authorities often do nothing.
Mujkic says that public space is used to mark territory and to send a message that the ideological presence of the authorities is still strong and that it is difficult to remove.
“I think that is one of the strategies, because simply you have nothing else to show, behind you there are no excellent economic and cultural results of which a normal person could be proud, and then remains that recycling, chewing over a very narrow interpretation of the past in which we are the victims,” he emphasizes.
The attempt to mobilize the population, as is happening in Serbia, Mujkic assesses, is doomed to failure, because it can be attractive for a while, but that constant repetition clearly shows that nobody, or very few people, care about it anymore.
“So nobody or very few people care anymore about Vucic’s patriotic laments, so by analogy I think it will be the same in RS,” concludes Mujkic.
Murals of war criminals still exist in public space, provoke reactions and debates in society, but their real impact on youth and the wider community remains uncertain, and their existence raises the question of where the limits of freedom of expression and the responsibility of the authorities lie.
