Restoring and preserving cultural property in post-conflict Bosnia- Herzegovina
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 12/11/2017

The extensive intentional destruction of cultural and religious property in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War as symbols of ethnic and a wider Bosnian identity was the greatest destruction of cultural heritage in Europe since the Second World War. It provoked worldwide condemnation and remains a seminal marker in the discourse on cultural heritage. Many incidents of destruction subsequently became the subject of war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
After the war ended, a huge international security presence, principally in the form of NATO-led multinational peacekeeping forces (IFOR/SFOR), along with civilian bodies like the Office of the High Representative (OHR), were charged with overseeing implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA). Recognising the overwhelming destruction of cultural heritage that had taken place, the DPA included the protection of historic monuments in its terms (Annex 8). Billions of dollars in international aid was poured into Bosnia-Herzegovina in an enormous reconstruction and state-building exercise.
Comparisons are often now made between the intentional destruction of cultural heritage in Bosnia with recent episodes in Syria and Iraq. While it was difficult then (as now) to actively protect monuments during the conflict (though little was attempted), we explore how international heritage professionals responded post-conflict, alongside local initiatives, in helping to reconstruct and preserve Bosnia-Herzegovina’s devastated cultural heritage. We discuss post-conflict restoration in the context of Annex 8 and the return of ethnically cleansed refugees and displaced people, as well as the many issues that continue to have an impact on preserving cultural heritage in the country, including its rich array of vernacular buildings.

Helen Walasek, former Associate of the Bosnian Institute, London and Deputy Director of Bosnia-Herzegovina Heritage Rescue (BHHR); Richard Carlton, Visiting Fellow at Newcastle University