Memorial Center Sarajevo abandons logo change: Lily and tombstones remain guardians of history

(Patria) - The transformation of the Memorial Fund of Sarajevo Canton into the Memorial Center Sarajevo is one of the key processes aimed at preserving and enhancing the memory of the best daughters and sons of our homeland. In this regard, and considering the expansion of activities, we have strived to work and create additional elements that would visually respond to the expansion of the Memorial Center Sarajevo's activities, and in this regard, we presented one of the versions of the new logo, which the creative team of the Fabrika agency is working on, to the public through social networks, it was announced today from the KS Memorial Fund, after they faced sharp criticism because the logo did not include the lily and tombstones. What is interesting is that the Memorial Center Sarajevo had already changed the picture on its Facebook profile, and then today, after stormy reactions, the previous photograph was quickly restored. Only today did the Memorial Center Sarajevo publish "other creative solutions" which were not in the posts in recent days.

"This is a renowned marketing, design, and advertising agency, which has proven itself through its work both domestically and on the regional and international scene. The Fabrika agency has previously worked on the visual identity of numerous institutions, including the visual identity of the Srebrenica Memorial Center. The creative team of Fabrika proposed several solutions for the appearance of the Memorial Center Sarajevo logo. In line with the change of name, and based on the elements and activities that the Memorial Fund has been involved in since its establishment in 1997, all elements that have accompanied the Fund's development since its inception have been used in the creation of the logo, such as tombstones, the lily, memorial monuments, and memorial complexes: the Tunnel of Hope and the War Mosque on Igman, as well as elements that have appeared in line with the expansion of activities to scientific, research, museum, archival, and library work. The explanation of one of the proposed conceptual solutions by the Fabrika creative team involved an analysis of the function and activities of the institution itself, the visual and symbolic value of the sites within it, and the cultivation of a collective memory of what it represents. The work on the identity included research into various visual elements that give importance to the specific mission and vision of the Memorial, which this institution deserves both currently and in the future. The memory of the war and the siege of Sarajevo from 1992-1995 evokes a whole series of symbols that, each in their own way, reflect the horrors of the events that occurred, but also the defiant resistance of the citizens and fighters that emerged from them. All of this was the starting point from which the elements of the visual identity were built.

"The specificity of the Memorial Center Sarajevo arises from the fact that it combines a number of sites of different symbolic and visual value, linked by exceptional significance in the culture of remembrance of the aggression. Each of these sites has its own specific weight and importance. The core from which the story of the Memorial was built emerged from the symbolic significance of the Kovači Martyrs' Cemetery, the War Mosque on Igman, and the Tunnel of Hope. The visual element that connects them is the vertical form highlighted through the elongated shape of the tombstones, the wooden beams of the tunnel walls, and the pronounced verticality of the minaret in the forest. The artistic abstraction of the aforementioned symbols is represented through a multiplied rectangular form as a symbolic value that unites them all. In its symbolism, the form reflects pride, defiance, courage, growth, significance, hope, and life. The vertical rectangles, through a play of sizes, create an illusion of spatial depth and infinity. Their arrangement and placement suggest a circular form, which is a universal symbol of gathering and community. The presented conceptual solution, with its symbolic and visual values, provides a timeless definition of the courage and resistance of a nation in the most difficult moments of its history. The identity of the Memorial Center Sarajevo is a visual manifesto of its symbolic importance in the culture of remembrance of the aggression against our country, but also a reflection of its mission and vision. The logo possesses the importance and comprehensiveness of the symbolism that this institution holds for the city and the country. The logo consists of a symbolic form and a typographic inscription and foresees a whole range of different application uses in traditional and digital media," explained Fabrika.

"Given that this was a test phase before considering a new or changing the existing logo of the Memorial Center Sarajevo, and in response to the public's reactions to the presented proposal, we have decided that neither this nor any other proposed solutions will be further considered or adopted. On the contrary, the Memorial Center Sarajevo will continue its mission as a guardian of history, relying on the existing logo of tombstones and the lily, while acting in accordance with the new additional activities," said the director of the Memorial Center Sarajevo, Ahmed Kulanić.