IRRC No. 910
Cultural heritage and memory after ethnic cleansing in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina
Reading time 51 min read
Abstract
This article draws on my book Bosnia and the Destruction of Cultural Heritage,1
which incorporates ground-breaking fieldwork in Bosnia-Herzegovina and
extensive research, and on my subsequent research and fieldwork in the postconflict
country. In the article, I explore the meaning that restoration and
reconstruction of cultural heritage intentionally destroyed during conflict can have,
particularly to the forcibly displaced. With the protection of cultural heritage
increasingly being treated as an important human right and with the impact that
forcible displacement during armed conflict has on cultural identity now in the
spotlight, the importance of cultural heritage for those ethnically cleansed in
Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1992–95 war (both those who returned and those
who did not) has relevance for considerations of contemporary post-conflict
populations.