BIRN-supported exhibition showcases how Bosnia’s capital kept culture alive amid the hardships of the 1992-95 siege.
Hamdi Firat Buyuk
The Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra performs a New Year’s concert during the siege.
An exhibition by Milomir Kovacevic, supported by BIRN, opens at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, presenting photographs of cultural life during the siege of Sarajevo.
Culture During the War features photographs taken during the 1992-5 siege, focusing on concerts, exhibitions, beauty contests and everyday cultural practices that continued despite prolonged shelling and shortages.
“Although there was a war, we still tried to mimic the normal everyday life that we lived here in Sarajevo,” Kovacevic told BIRN. “Not everyone was made to be a soldier… cultural workers, filmmakers, artists, photographers and musicians tried to make the best of their work, and for a few hours … to make people forget that they are living in a war.”
The exhibition highlights how cultural life persisted during the siege, offering insight into how residents maintained elements of social and artistic life throughout the conflict.
“This exhibition was coming up for a long time, perhaps this is not the final version of it, because the archive is so large from this period,” Kovacevic said. “We had to edit a lot to be suitable for the actual space… I’m hoping that this work, one day, will be exhibited in some bigger venue in the future.”
During the siege of the Bosnian capital, people organised cultural events as a way to cope with daily uncertainty and disruption.
“It was certainly more powerful and more authentic … you didn’t know if you were going to live the next day or not. You gave the best of yourself… There was also a lot more cooperation and support among people during this period,” he added.
Among the events documented are concerts and public gatherings, including the wartime “Miss Sarajevo” pageant, which became symbolic of civilian resilience.
According to Kovacevic, these events and the exhibition are important to show what cultural life was like in the city during the Bosnian War to future generations.
“There were many concerts, such as in Sloga [a well-known event hall] or the beauty pageant – the Miss Sarajevo. Maybe some people who didn’t live through this, when they see these photographs, will wonder how it was possible to experience all of this during the war,” Kovacevic said.
The exhibition is supported by BIRN through an EU-funded project that promotes the use of archival material from conflicts, including World War II and the Yugoslav wars, in media and cultural production.
It is open until May 23 at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
