Days of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide: "Mrtvare" Exhibition Opens in Tuzla

(Patria) - This year, Tuzla will mark the remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide with a series of events, and the ten-day program jointly organized by several institutions, organizations, associations, and informal groups of citizens
opened last night with the exhibition "Mrtvare" (The Dead Ones' Shoes), which is displayed in the Gallery of the Bosnian Cultural Center of Tuzla Canton in
Tuzla.

The exhibition is a joint project of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center and the renowned Bosnian photographer Armin Durgut, and it is being held in Tuzla for the first time. Speakers at the exhibition opening included Hafiz Ahmed-ef. Huskanović, chief imam of the Islamic Community of Tuzla, Benjamin Bajrektarević, expert associate for art collections and cultural heritage at the Public Institution Bosnian Cultural Center of Tuzla Canton, Amir Kulaglić, advisor to the Prime Minister of Tuzla Canton and a Srebrenica genocide survivor, and Faruk Ibrahimović, a prominent photographer from Tuzla.

Ibrahimović emphasized the importance of documentary photography, which played a special role during the war and in the post-war period, creating an eternal record of a real person, object, or event in a truthful and objective manner.

"This exhibition is a poignant document of human destiny, of a time that should be remembered, especially the suffering faced by the population of Bosnian Podrinje. The exhibition is also a warning that what the people of Srebrenica endured should never happen to anyone, ever again. Among us photographers, there is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. We hope that the exhibition will reach regions that still know little or nothing about the suffering of innocent people," stated Faruk Ibrahimović.

The photographs display footwear found along the route of the Death March in July 1995 and in shelters where Srebrenica survivors hid. Since 2019, a team from the Srebrenica Memorial Center has been collecting items belonging to the victims of the Srebrenica genocide. Among the most frequently found items in the hiding places of Bosniaks are shoes. Certainly, a special place among them is occupied by "mrtvare." These are shoes that arrived in Srebrenica via humanitarian aid convoys to the enclave. They got the name "mrtvare" from the story that people who died in the West were buried in these shoes. After the story spread through the town, everyone called them that from then on. Anyone who survived the siege of Srebrenica knows what is meant by the mention of that name.

Through the exhibition "Mrtvare," we want to depict the suffering faced by the population of Bosnian Podrinje, to show the traces of people who existed and were ultimately killed in a brutal and cruel manner - stated the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center.

The exhibition is displayed in the Gallery of the Bosnian Cultural Center in Tuzla and can be viewed during the Days of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide event, which is being held in Tuzla from July 1 to July 10, 2024.

We remind you that the event is jointly organized by the Public Institution Bosnian Cultural Center of Tuzla Canton, the Islamic Community of Tuzla, the Institute for Social and Religious Research Tuzla, the Public Institution Special Library Behram beg, the Association of Citizens "Prosvjetitelj," and the Informal Group of Citizens "8372 for Srebrenica," with the support of the Mufti of Tuzla, the City of Tuzla, and the Government of Tuzla Canton.

The next event within the manifestation is the promotion of the book "They Were Just Children," by author Husejin Omerović, which will be held in the Blue Hall of the BKC Tuzla on July 3 at 6:30 PM.