(Based on a presentation titled “The Museum from the Front Line. The Power of Museums in Dealing with the Difficult Past: The Case of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, General Conference of ICOM, Prague, August 2022.) “We used to be as you are, and you will be as we are now…”. I tried to awkwardly […]
The intensive geopolitical, social, and cultural changes that have marked the last two decades of the turbulent 20th century and the equally dynamic and dramatic start of the 21st century have followed closely the rapid development of information and communication technologies and of the globalization process. Numerous theoreticians in the fields of social sciences and humanities point[…]
In May 2018, the Municipality of Prishtina announced that the house which saw the graduation of ten generations of high-school students between 1992 and 1999 would become a museum. This house is one of 3000 other locations throughout Kosova– including basements, garages, rooms, and entire houses – that were transformed into schools during that time. Known as[…]
The Museologcial Landscape of Kosovo During the war in Kosovo in 1998-1999 there were grave violations of the international humanitarian law among the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Serbian and Yugoslav police and military forces: massacres, murders, forced disappearances, rapes, arbitrary imprisonments, demolition of houses, health care centers, factories, religious buildings (churches, mosques tekkes), historical monuments,[…]
Ivana Hadzievska, MSc I vividly remember my visit to the Museum of Technology and Maritime Affairs in Malmö (Teknikens och Sjöfartens Hus) in 2017. Soon after the visit, sorting out the impressions, I realized that the authors of the setting had a great idea on how to deliver their concept, as well as the educational and didactic[…]
The Balkan Perspectives podcast is forumZFD’s audio format on Dealing with the Past and Peace Education in the Western Balkans. The podcast is produced in four languages (Albanian, BHCS, Macedonian and English) by the forumZFD offices in Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
When world wars happen, like the current one in Ukraine, it reminds us, the inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, of our history and the misfortunes that every generation has had to endure for centuries. There are monuments all over the region, but there are also ruins that remind us every day of the hostilities that took place[…]
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, changed the political climate in Europe and the world and announced a new era of global relations, which has yet to take shape in the post-conflict process, and which will be based on the complexity that arises from the emerging reality of the multipolar world. The global[…]
New wars are complex. The world has increasingly less patience for nuances, as it is especially evident in the current war in Ukraine. The highly polarized media situation lasted all year, even before the start of the war in Ukraine. During the military actions, the opponents simultaneously label one another as “Nazis”, so the situation may require[…]
News of collective negative events, such as wars, very easily find their way into our inner world. Apart from the fact that such events get meticulous coverage in the global media context, evolution has wired us to pay more attention to negative news than positive ones, because they have greater information value for our survival. From the viewpoint[…]
I went to Kyiv for first time in 2015. There was no special reason for it. I love to travel. Ukraine was the only country in Europe that I had not visited yet. I found a cheap ticket, and a cheap room near the main square. During that trip, nothing particularly special happened to me. Yet, in[…]
Sarajevo 1992 – Kyiv 2022 We stand witness that even 30 years after Sarajevo 1992, the ideas of fascism, hatred, and divisions are still very much alive. So is the heroic fight for justice, freedom, and peace. The citizens of Bucha, Kyiv, Mariupol, and many other cities in Ukraine are living through terror, aggression, and a humanitarian[…]