The Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra and the Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, in cooperation with the M90 – Museum of the Nineties initiative, are presenting an exhibition of photographs by Italian photojournalist Mario Boccia, taken during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s, titled “SARAJEVO 1992-1996 / THE LONGEST SIEGE.”
The exhibition will open on December 8th at 7 p.m. at the M90 – Museum of the Nineties, located at Kneza Milosa 3 in Belgrade, with a conversation with the author, while the next day, December 9th, from 12 p.m., the public will also have a guided tour of the exhibition with the artist.
The black-and-white photographs captured through his lens are a visual archive of a traumatic period, of the harsh everyday life filled with fear and uncertainty that the residents of Sarajevo constantly endured during the years of destruction. These photographs are not only a testimony of devastation and loss, but also of hope, dignity, and the invisible gestures of solidarity that held the community together.
“These photographs were taken in Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996, during the long days of the siege. In my work, I never tried to impose images. I decided to focus on the city’s civilian resistance, trying to tell the drama without showing blood. As Benjamina Karic, the mayor of Sarajevo, who was a child during the siege, said, ‘I photographed life, not just the war.’ In Sarajevo, as a journalist, I tried to establish a direct connection with the city and its residents. Whenever possible, I asked to be hosted by civilians, who always turned out to be exceptionally hospitable. With some of them, I still have a very strong bond today,” says Mario Boccia.
“During my stay in Sarajevo, I decided to photograph both the besieged and the besiegers, often crossing frontlines, convinced that identifying with the victims is easy and comforting, but can also be hypocritical. On the other hand, showing how many similarities we can have with wrongdoers is necessary if we want to understand how ideological fanaticism and war can disrupt basic human values. A normal person can be dehumanized to the point of becoming a sniper capable of shooting at a child who is playing. Thinking about this helps us develop the necessary antibodies. Paradoxically, showing only the horrors can give false comfort to those who have no personal memory of them, convincing them that this is something ‘that could never happen to us.’ And yet, the greatest evil in history was born in the very heart of educated Europe – and it put down deep roots here as well,” the author of the exhibition adds.
Mario Boccia is a photojournalist and the author of reports on global issues, as well as articles and photographs published in numerous Italian media outlets. For twenty years, he worked in areas affected by war and poverty in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, striving to find signs of hope even in the most hopeless situations. He was a correspondent and reporter for the Italian daily “Il Manifesto” from Sarajevo, Belgrade, Pristina, Skopje, Diyarbakir, and Baghdad. His photographs have been used to promote solidarity campaigns by many NGOs and non-profit organizations, as well as the United Nations (UN).
The exhibition is organized by the Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra and the Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa.
The exhibition “SARAJEVO 1992-1996 / THE LONGEST SIEGE” will run until February 8th, 2026, and will be open for visits every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
