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‘Soul of Srebrenica’ Photo Exhibition Opens in Belgrade

An image from the exhibition in Belgrade. Photo: BIRN.

‘Soul of Srebrenica’ Photo Exhibition Opens in Belgrade

Midhat Poturovic’s exhibition ‘Soul of Srebrenica’ opened on Saturday at the EndzioHub gallery in central Belgrade, unaffected by a small demonstration outside by supporters of jailed Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic.

This post is also available in: Bosnian

The photographs were taken by Poturovic over several years and depict the process of identification and burial of genocide victims at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre as well as the town itself in the post-war years.

Prior to the opening, Poturovic said he was immensely glad that his work on Srebrenica was being exhibited in Belgrade.

“Once I could not even imagine that as someone who spent my childhood under fire in besieged Sarajevo, after so many years I would do an exhibition about Srebrenica, in the capital of Serbia, Belgrade,” Poturovic told BIRN.

“I feel gratitude to all those people who are working hard to build a wonderful country, a Serbia full of empathy, different from the one from the 1990s. That is why this exhibition has a special significance,” he added.

Bosnian Serb forces captured UN-protected enclave Srebrenica in July 1995 and over the next few days killed some 8,000 Bosnian men and boys. Last month, Mladic became the most recent person to be convicted of the Srebrenica genocide.

The exhibition opened on Saturday with police protection to prevent any disruption and the street where the gallery is located was closed to traffic.

A group of around 20 protesters gathered in front of the police cordon, singing about Mladic, shouting that “Srebrenica is not genocide” and holding up the Bosnian Serb war criminal’s picture, but did not prevent the opening from going ahead.

The exhibition continues until July 13.

A woman looks at a name on a coffin containing one of the Srebrenica genocide victims in Potocari, July 2012. Photo: BIRN.

Images at the exhibition in Belgrade. Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Hajra Catic holding the documents of her husband and son, her only mementoes of them after they were both killed in the Srebrenica genocide. Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Photographer Midhat Poturovic speaking at the opening of the exhibition in Belgrade. Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Police keeping Ratko Mladic’s supporters away from the gallery where the exhibition is on display. Photo: BIRN.

Milica Stojanović


This post is also available in: Bosnian