FEATURE REPORT

Kathy Rae Huffman

Video from Bosnia
A meeting point of memory and reality

'Meeting Point', 1st annual exhibition of the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina, 24 – 27 July 1997.
 

The twenty video works presented at ‘Meeting Point’, the first annual exhibition of the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts Sarajevo (24 - 27 July, 1997) gave voice and presence to the young artists of Sarajevo. The selection, which represents a number of poetic, artistic and documentary style works, evidence that the first generation of media artists, after UN peace keeping forces became residents, has emerged in Sarajevo. Their desire to communicate is strong, and through their personal stories they show life as it is. As their incentive, provocation, and enticement to create, and as revealed in the works presented, Sarajevo is the central metaphor... for absolute possibility!

‘Meeting Point’ video artists are the survivors of the Siege of Sarajevo, experienced by most while they were teenagers. Whether or not they were in the city itself during the war, or safely sheltered abroad, each and every one suffered loss. These young Sarajevo residents, however, were not only cut off from water, food and electricity, they were cut off from their international cultural connections: from MTV, from computer games, from McDonalds, and from taking the train to Belgrade (or just about anywhere else) to visit relatives, friends, or to attend film school. As a collective group, they were reliant upon independent radio stations to bring them alternative news, information and new sounds, keeping them informed about the British and American pop music scene (sometimes from bootleg versions brought in by journalists).

In Sarajevo, the main means of communication is the Balkan social practice of evening meetings in the streets, cafes and bars throughout the heart of the old town. This has been the tradition for centuries. Not only curfew, but also extreme danger limited unnecessary movement on the inner streets of Sarajevo from Spring 1992 through the cease fire in 1995. Yugoslav army sniper fire and random shelling from hillside bunkers made the daily fetching of food, fuel and water a deadly activity. It also prevented the surrounded, mainly Muslim-Bosnian population, from communicating socially for four years. ‘Meeting Point’ re-established this tradition as a strong point, and brought the communal process of information exchange – typical among the young and old -- to new public attention with its energetic program of interventions and video works. These programs activated the intellectual artistic community, and served to revitalize the creative spirit, rebuild the media art community, and to spark fresh energy with new and personal moving images.
 

"The Balkans are more and more self-absorbed and inward looking because of the war, the economic situation, and the blockage..." yet "...artists must communicate, they can't remain isolated...."
Zoran Petrovski, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje (1993)

A recurring theme, and thematic thread throughout the ‘Meeting Point’ video program is how individual personal decision provided a method to cope with daily life under such war circumstances. But, these are not propaganda tapes. They are a far cry from the familiar, narrated (CNN style) short docu-info-brief telling about the latest death toll through a fixed camera (with a smiling reporter positioned against the background of burning rubble or fleeing refugees). No sensationalist images here, just sensational, ordinary people. The artists work rather than show you military strength take you into their bedrooms, and show you the inside of their homes and their heads, with images that reveal their dreams and nightmares.
 

„Wars have left their scars and war is NOT broken houses, it is broken MINDS. Living in a ‘war zone’ is living in a virtual reality."
Wam Kat, peace worker & communications activist (1995)

The ‘Meeting Point’ video program also includes works by a few artists working during the war, at a time when they probably did not know what would happen next, or if they would live to finish them. Some works were finished abroad, others were not finished until after 1995. Although there is no stated theme, or title to the program, it clearly represents the mental experiences of those who lived through the long and devastating war in which no Bosnian -- of Muslim, Croat or Serbian descent -- escaped family tragedy. This was a war of war-crimes, and terrible devastations, especially upon the Muslims (by both Croatian and Serbian military raiders) told to us time and time again on international television news reports. From the Spring of 1992, the collective consciousness of the survivors, those who remained to behold unspeakable and brutal incidents, grew. The numbers of foreign correspondents, observers, humanitarian workers (especially through Soros funded projects) and camera crews also grew. The world watched passively as the white, armored vehicles of the UN observers delivered and then returned heads-of-state into to the ‘safe streets' of Sarajevo.
 

"...in 1995, I realized that I survived the war...."
Jasmila Zbanic, in Autobiography (1995)

The videotape program reveals an astoundingly fresh internal vision. For instance, Autobiography (1995, 6:00 min.) by Jasmila Zbanic, to which the jury awarded the first prize to, is full of poignant vision. She pro-actively takes back her right to walk in the city, by anointing Sarajevo, the ruined buildings, the street, and even the air, baptizing it with precious life-giving water, once -- not so long ago -- a precious luxury in the city. A performance for video, she concludes by drinking her own saliva, and in a toast she salutes the camera, ‘Jivolie’, which declares her right to exist and to be productive. In After, After (1997, 18:00 min.), she portrays another survivor, a small girl who has been brought to Sarajevo from the occupied territory of Eastern Bosnia, and who suffers post-war trauma due to her traumatic experiences. We are left without knowing a conclusion to the fate of this child, but we realize she has began the long road to recovery.

Although the spirit of the authors is simple and straightforward, one suspects that several might fantasize about, or mimic MTV. Except for the fact that they lack the sophisticated technical facilities, training, and experience to create that kind of ‘professional’ or polished work, some tried! They used VHS cameras, or Video 8, and some very minimal editing to create impressive visceral works that evoke an honest compulsion to use the medium with music. Because they also have limited access to sound production, an abundance of popular (or at least familiar, if not cliché) music accompanies many of the works. Although international video works rely strongly on sound as an essential element, and an essential creative component, the sound in most of the Bosnian video reminds us that the repetitive and familiar radio melodies are a legacy we share, and they are our common pop music mental bookmarks, which know no borders. For the Bosnian video makers, Timur Makarevic and Amer Mrzljak, their collaboration Mindless (1997, 9:30 min.), a short drama enacted in the most desecrated streets of Sarajevo, is associated through music to a wider cultural withdrawal, one that youth around the world confront.
 

"....KRAJ..." [graffiti scrawled: cry]
Timur Makarevic and Amer Mrzljak, Mindless (1997)

A strong mix of personal and documentary reflection, the overwhelming need and desire to communicate the experiences through which they lived, and to talk openly predominated. Like the artists who first used the Sony porta pak in the early 1970s, this private/public subjective viewpoint uses the video medium to express what is - now. Smail Kapetanovic's two minute mini-portrait, Hobby (1993, 2:10 min.), shows the ingenuity of young boys to find excitement in their surroundings, no matter what. The youngster's collection of spent artillery shells - found in his front yard - is a chilling reality of wartime playground activity. It is presented very matter of fact, without apology, as if he was discussing his bug collection, or baseball cards. On the other hand, the documentary work Trams – My Favourite Turn (1993-95, 11:00 min.) by Nedzad Begovic chronicles the war by observing the destruction of Sarajevo's public transportation system, and follows through to the first car back on track. It is positive and affirms his faith that normalcy will reign again. In Sarajevo, the ‘war attitude’ and ‘war ingenuity’ was expressed many times in the works, and often with a great sense of humor. It was a demonstration that anything can happen, and solutions were found, and while searching for one thing, they don't stop looking for something else. In the autobiographical work of Enes Zlatar, 24 Hours with Bure (1993-97, 21:00 min.), we follow him down the streets of Sarajevo, on his way to work at the local fire station, and he points out the places where the bombs are coming from:
 

"...over there !"  [he points while running and ducking]
"...that's where they try to kill us from..."
Enes Zlatar, from 24 Hours with Bure (1993-97)

The subjective camera, as well as his direct communication with the viewer, creates a special relationship that no news commentator is able to create. It is not a message meant to be sent over international satellite transmissions, but one that should reach far and wide. Enes and the others will inherit Sarajevo, it is their future. By telling us so straightforward how they survived, they take the responsibility over to someday become its leaders. Nebojsa Seric, in his videotape Shovel (1997, 4:00 min.), acts out his need to (ritually) bury his observer, and to escape from the constant surveillance and media attention. He performs for the camera, with the camera, and ironically ‘buries the hatchet’ by just doing it! In the process, we witness the grim surroundings, and the frustrations inherent in the competitive wartime living situation.

The search for the answers to ‘why me’ and ‘why here’ - are questions all youth ask, but most do not need to witness death and destruction, and endure such an extended struggle. Without the personal intervention into the media, they remain victims, but by picking up the camera and using it as a tool they find answers by working through the issues. The work Paradox (1997, 5:05 min.), by Selimir Sokolovic, Admir Halilovic and Danilo Kreso, uses the theme of ‘the hunted’ becoming the hunter. By using image distortions, psychological states of mind are expressed, delusions and persecution are hinted at. We are unsure if this is irrational or paranoiac behavior, and an ever present ‘eye’ relentlessly observes everything. Dejan Vekic created a collage of images, from photographs, in his work X-Why (1997, 7:00 min.), an ironic title that links Sarajevo and Paris by the youth culture and fashions. Zlatan Filipovic's work, The Road in Between (1997, 7:00 min.), takes a complete diversion into the abstract, and creates a computer processed video, using photographs only as the source material, which evokes transcendental ideals, rising above the ugliness of the war and conceptually reframing a new view of potential mental value.

By using video, television, computers, and Internet – mediated communications technology – artists gain de facto political connectivity. In this process they also gain practical knowledge and experience how to express themselves. The war in Bosnia produced the largest movement of people in Europe since the Second World War, with over two million refugees and displaced persons scattered throughout the world. The country, which tolerated several ethnic subcultures for centuries, will never be the same. The crisis of war, which most of the population sought to avoid, became the topic of concern for others. An independently produced television program, Streets of Fire (1996, 42:00 min.), created by Adnan Sarajlic and Sasa Kaljanac, is tolerated and through continued effort, is broadcast nationally in Bosnia Hercegovina, and not only in Sarajevo. The regular program, which continues to be broadcast, is about one hour each edition. It gives voice to the public, and is a street chronicle of the war, ist victims and its survivors. The introductory ‘wraparound’ is an artistic collage of disparate scenes without transitions, of various streets where the daily battles were waged against the common citizens. It has reached wide audiences at home, and abroad, bringing the poignant message clearly to the point. War is bloody hell.
 

"The twentieth century began in Sarajevo.
The twenty-first has begun in Sarajevo, too."
Susan Sontag, from Spring in Sarajevo (1993)

‘Meeting Point’ reveals how the video medium is capable of gathering up the collective memory, how it represents a personal point of view, and how it can -- by viewing the program collectively -- allow the Sarajevo community to witness their collective memory together, as a group, and feel empowered with new directives. The works become the agent for the youth, and the survivors, to metamorphise their history, to expend it, and ‘go on’ to find solutions in a still very difficult situation: post-war society. It is almost impossible to think about video or media art from Sarajevo without thinking of the news media. But the artists in this program wish to be distinct from the peace activists who have found a haven in their environment, a humanitarian pleasure park. Instead, they have given us a personal sample of how young individuals are reconstructing their daily lives, their memories, and how well prepared they are to building a future and return to normalcy, like their ancestors who shared stories face to face, in the streets of Sarajevo for hundreds of years.

Now that Sarajevo has ceased being a war zone, and has become occupied under foreign military control, the residents live in a peculiar twilight zone. They can create, take hot baths and evening walks. They go to school, bars, and even pop stars are coming back to give benefit concerts. But, besides the minor annoyance of having the water turned off during the day, and irregular telephone service (and never to their neighboring Yugoslavia), the youth suffer from widespread unemployment, and limited travel possibilities because of severe visa restrictions. Most countries have their fill of ‘refugees’ and no longer even grant transit visas to residents of Bosnia for fear of new demands for political asylum. Peace has been declared, and Bosnia has lost its ‘most favored charity’ status on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Still, hundreds of foreign NGOs and special humanitarian efforts continue throughout Bosnia. For the most part, the local population of artists would prefer use of the Soros Humanitarian Foundation's professional video editing suite (created to train journalists), or to have a few of their own High 8 cameras (to share) rather than see millions of dollars invested into competing educational programs that give them no personal voice.

The SCCA of Sarajevo has committed resources to provide a basic video editing set up, and cameras. Under the direction of Dunja Blazevic, artists in Sarajevo will benefit from professional direction and the connections to distribute their work internationally. She has years of valuable experience as a culture editor for the former national television (under the old Yugoslav system), where artists from around the republic of Yugoslavia were given access to professional production and post production, and a broadcast of their work. The videotapes that will be produced on the newer digital format will serve as emissaries for the artists, and the people of Bosnia, until they themselves are free to work, travel and re-enter the international flow of life and communication. Until the return to normalcy.

Vienna, January 1998
 

This text was originally written for Meeting Point, the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts - Sarajevo, Annual Exhibition, July 24 - September 12, 1997.