Art Exhibition and Presentation at the United Nations The United Nations Headquarters
Group Exhibition, New York, USA, July 11, 2005 through July 31, 2005.
Commemoration
Art exhibit and presentation
Organized by The Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Supported by a grant from Open Society Institute
In Prosecutor v. Krstic, a landmark ruling that put to rest any doubts about the legal character of the massacre, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia unanimously ruled that it was an act of genocide. As the Chamber’s judgment states:
By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general.…The Appeals Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate terms, the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre at Srebrenica by its proper name: genocide. Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act.
Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the world's first United Nations “Safe Area,” was the site of the worst case of massacre in Europe since World War II. In July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army staged a brutal takeover of the small town and its surrounding region. Over a period of five days, the Bosnian Serb soldiers separated Muslim (Bosniak) families and systematically murdered more than 7,800 men and boys in fields, schools, and warehouses. The massacre was carried out after the commander of the United Nations Protection Force, General Bertrand Janvier, handed the town over to the Serbian army General Ratko Mladic. On the eve of the tenth anniversary (July 2005) of the Srebrenica genocide, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in the United States faced an obligation to deliver a commemorative event that would once again put Srebrenica genocide on the front pages and in public discourse.The Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABH), a not-for-profit organization based in New York, held an event that commemorated the massacre of Bosniak men and boys, which occurred from July 12 through July 18, 1995 in and near the UN declared "Safe Area" of Srebrenica. During the week of the commemorative event, an estimated 30,000 visitors reflected on the exhibit in the lobby of the United Nations building in New York, and dozens of news outlets around the world carried the story of Srebrenica remembered.
Srebrenica Commemorative Event
The July 11, 2005 commemoration held at the United Nations headquarters in New York generated a dramatic moment reflecting on the 1995 events, created a lasting record as a reminder to all Bosnians and the international community of nations, sensitized the general public to the crimes of genocide, and at the same time helped present artists from Bosnia-Herzegovina and several other countries, paying special attention to younger, emerging artists.The events were open to public and free. Representatives of the United Nations and its Member States, civil society, media and the general public attended and reacted to the events.Beyond commemoration and awareness-raising, the Srebrenica commemoration events sent a reminder to the international community in attendance about unfulfilled individual accountability for the crimes committed. The ultimate message was a call for international solidarity in the face of future genocides, and for the international community to have the will to act appropriately in time to guard against human rights abuses that precede genocide.
Art Exhibit Commemorating 10 years since the Srebrenica Massacre
©Michelle Rodgers

Participating artists (in alphabethical order):
Aida Sehovic (USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Almin Zrno (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Dzeko Hodzic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Dzemila Rekanovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Enes Sivac (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Esma Spaho (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Kemal Hromic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Lara Nettelfield (USA)
Lisa Kahane (USA)
Maria Fuglevaag Warsinski (Norway)
Michelle Rodgers (Ireland)
Muhamed Ceif (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Raib Salihefendic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Samir Biscevic (USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Samra Mujezinovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Sara Terry (USA)
Sarah Wagner (USA)
Tarik Samarah (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Toso Mitesevski (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
"Što te Nema?" (Why are you not here?) Art Installation
©Aida Sehovic

Film and Speaker Presentations
©Maria Warsinski

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For more information please contact progam staff:
Damir Pozderac
Leila Rachidi
Almir Lucevic
Amra Turalic
Nebojsa Seric Shoba
Lejla Hadzic
Alison Hanson
ULUPUBiH
"Why Are You not Here?" Art installation team:
Aida Sehovic
Gates Gooding
Amel Mujezinovic
Dzana Sehovic
Maja Sedic
The Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a not-for-profit (501c3) cultural and advocacy organization based in New York. The Academy was founded in 2004 by Bosnians and Herzegovinians living in New York City to provide a platform for various cultural, arts, and professional exchange programs led by its members, which are intended to benefit the Bosnians and Herzegovinians in New York City United, States and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Academy's mission is to support the empowerment process of a new generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians living in the United States. The objective is to promote the intellectual and cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in New York and in United States, to counter the prevailing negative images of the country, and to create and sustain links with the institutions and professionals within Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the longer term, these objectives will contribute to the democratic development of the country, strengthening of the rule of law, and economic advancement
The Academy's mission is to support the empowerment process of a new generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians living in the United States. The objective is to promote the intellectual and cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in New York and in United States, to counter the prevailing negative images of the country, and to create and sustain links with the institutions and professionals within Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the longer term, these objectives will contribute to the democratic development of the country, strengthening of the rule of law, and economic advancement