Description: Almost thirty years after the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, photographer Fabrice Dekoninck has explored the most intimate aspects of the memory of those who survived the siege of Sarajevo, the ethnic cleansing of the Prijedor region, and the genocide in Srebrenica. Like a memory anthropologist, he documented the 'living' memory of the war on the very sites where the events unfolded, in close contact with surviving witnesses. This long-term work paints a portrait of a Bosnian society traumatised by the legacy of the war, which, in the absence of historical truth, takes the risk of seeing it resurface. In the light of the return of war in Europe and the resurgence of nationalism worldwide, this book provides crucial insights into the risks posed to peace by instrumentalisation of war memories.
Brief description:
Bruno Tertrais is a political scientist, specialised in international security issues. He is the Deputy Director of the Foundation for Strategic Research and a geopolitical advisor at the Montaigne Institute. During the war in Bosnia, he worked at the French Ministry of Defence.
Review Quotes: "Fabrice Dekoninck's work pays tribute to all war reporters whose work is essential for citizens as well as historians. By showing the human reality of war, he reveals its inhumanity. Many of the photographs in this volume could have been taken just a few weeks or months ago in Ukraine." -- Bruno Tertrais