[syndicate] (Fwd) Srebrenica opera opens in Bosnia; Srebrenica's scar

Sat Oct 16 22:51:41 CEST 2004

I hope Serbs will soon compose an opera on Muslim's massacre of 1,300 Serb
civilians from 32 villages in Srebrenica region in 1992. (Skelane, Kravica
...)
Although I doubt they will get such a musical inspiration to sing about that
crime as Bosniaks have. I expect Bill Clinton to join Bosniaks playing sax
;-)
Andrej

________________
Andrej Tisma -  artist, art critic and  curator
WEBSITE: http://tisma.net/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo at reporters.net>
To: "indira Kajosevic" <indira_kaj at yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2004 6:37 PM
Subject: [syndicate] (Fwd) Srebrenica opera opens in Bosnia; Srebrenica's
scar

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3747692.stm
>
> Last Updated: Friday, 15 October, 2004, 16:51 GMT 17:51 UK
>
> Srebrenica opera opens in Bosnia
>
> An opera inspired by the 1995 massacre of Muslims by Bosnian Serbs at
> Srebrenica is due to open in Sarajevo.
>
> Almost 8,000 men and boys were executed in Srebrenica, which was a
> UN-declared safe zone at the time.
>
> The Bosnian National Opera will perform the opera - called
> Srebrenicanke (Srebrenica women) - for the first time on Friday
> night.
> The opera, which was composed by Ivan Cavlovic, will be dedicated to
> the victims of terrorism across the world. Terrorism threat
>
> The opening night's performance, at the National Theatre in Sarajevo,
> will be performed in memory of the hundreds of people who died after
> terrorists seized a school in the Russian town of Beslan last month.
>
> Gojko Bjelac, who wrote the libretto and directs the opera, said:
> "The
> opera is about the sufferings of the Srebrenica women but it also
> tells a tale of the sufferings of all victims of terror in the entire
> world."
>
> The opera, consists of 11 short impressions of the in genocide in
> Srebrenica, the Holocaust during World War II, and the threat of
> modern terrorism.
>
> Bjelac said: "These 11 impressions create the overall message of the
> opera."
>
> Documentary
>
> He added that the Srebrenica tragedy had occupied him in a constant
> quest to explain to the public "the magnitude of the tragedy that
> happened there".
>
> As well as the opera, Bjelac has also written two books and made a
> documentary on the subject.
>
> He said: "I feel obliged as an artist to deal with this tragedy. Art
> should speak up against evil."
>
> Gradimir Gojer, the director of the Bosnian National Theatre, said
> proceeds from the opening night will be sent to the Beslan victims'
> families in the Russian republic of North Ossetia.
>
>
> Caption for accompanying illustration (not attached):
> [Bosnian actors performing during the main rehearsal of the
> Srebrenica
> Women opera at the Bosnian National Theatre] The opera will raise
> money for the Beslan school shooting victims
>
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3745070.stm
>
> Last Updated: Friday, 15 October, 2004, 08:15 GMT 09:15 UK
>
> Srebrenica's scars slow to heal
>
> A Bosnian Serb investigation into the Srebrenica massacre has
> recognised that more than 7,000 Muslims were murdered when the town
> was overrun by Serb forces in July 1995. It is the first time the
> Bosnian Serbs have admitted the death toll.
>
> The BBC's Nick Hawton reports on Srebrenica's efforts to recover and
> the pain that lingers on.
>
> Hatidza Mehmedovic, 53, serves me the Turkish coffee in her house on
> a
> slope over-looking Srebrenica. Her eyes are intense. She speaks with
> a
> controlled passion.
>
> "I lost my husband, two sons and two brothers. Only the remains of
> one
> of my brothers has so far been found.
>
> "We hope one day we'll find them. That's what I live for. That is why
> I came back here two years ago."
>
> Hatidza's story is not unusual for the Muslim women of Srebrenica.
> She
> is just one of the many victims who has to live with what happened
> during those scorching days of the summer of 1995.
>
> "As for this report into the massacre, it's not good enough," she
> says.
>
> "It will only be complete when we know the full truth - who killed my
> sons? Who ordered their deaths? Who drove the digger that buried
> them?
> Who was the driver?"
>
> Conflicting stories
>
> In the Serb village of Kravica a few kilometres away, Milan
> Zivanovic,
> 43, is distilling home-made plum brandy on the banks of a small
> stream. He fought as a Serb soldier during the war.
>
> "I don't know what happened at Srebrenica in July 1995. I wasn't
> there. I don't know why so many people died. Maybe there was some
> fighting among themselves".
>
> But Milan believes the world does not know the full truth. Kravica
> itself was attacked by Muslim forces in January 1993. Milan says 107
> people were killed, most of them civilians.
>
> "The media coverage of what happened at Srebrenica is unfair. Perhaps
> in 10 or 20 years time, they will show that we Serbs were also
> victims
> here."
>
> Relations between Serbs and Muslims are cordial. There have been some
> case of intimidation, but no serious cases of violence.
>
> Milan says hello to Muslims he recognises from before the war and who
> have now returned. They occasionally go for a drink. Reconciliation
> takes time.
>
> Coming back to life
>
> These days, Srebrenica is in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia, a
> legacy of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995.
>
> Muslims did not begin returning to the area until 2000, still fearful
> for their safety. But since then, the rate of return has dramatically
> increased.
>
> According to the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, 2,701 Muslims have now
> returned to the Srebrenica Municipality. Before the war, there were
> 27,000.
>
> William Tarpai, from the UNHCR in Bosnia, says this area now has the
> fastest rate of refugee returns anywhere in Bosnia.
>
> "Returnees are coming back. This year alone, in the Srebrenica
> Municipality, Muslims have returned to 15 isolated, rural areas. No
> one has lived in these places since the end of the war," he says.
>
> International help
>
> Money has come in from the international community. The United
> Nations
> Development Programme is encouraging reconstruction. The Dutch
> Government contributed 600,000 euros to help improve the water
> system.
>
> Some businesses have been started, like the freezer plant which has
> been built next to the old UN base.
>
> But there are still major challenges ahead. Unemployment remains very
> high, well over 50%.
>
> There are reports that drug use among the young is on the increase.
> Many young people want to leave, just like other places in Bosnia.
>
> "I was a refugee in Sarajevo," says Hatidza. "But I returned here
> because this is my town.
>
> "These are my streets. I even prefer the rain here rather than in
> Sarajevo."
>
>
> Captions for accompanying illustrations (not attached):
> 1) [Srebrenica today] Srebrenica's mosque has been rebuilt and 2,700
> Muslims returned 2) [Hatidza Mehmedovic] I lost my husband, two sons
> and two brothers... we hope one day we'll find them Hatidza
> Mehmedovic
> Srebrenica Muslim 3) [Milan Zivanovic, a Serb] Perhaps in 10 or 20
> years time, they will show that we Serbs were also victims here Milan
> Zivanovic Former Serb soldier 4) [destroyed houses in town centre]
> War
> damage is still evident in the town centre
>
> RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
>
> UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
> http://www.un.org/icty/
>
> UNHCR
> http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
>
>
>

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