TWENTIETH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "UNITY AND PLURALITY IN

EUROPE" (ICUPE20)

TOPOGRAPHIES OF VIOLENCE: SITES OF

MEMORY AND THE LEGACY OF GENOCIDE
27-28 JULY HOTEL BRISTOL, MOSTAR; 1ST AUGUST 2025 -STOLAC

THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM BOSNIA (IFB) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1997 in

Sarajevo. It brings together individuals and institutions from Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad committed to
the creation of a future for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a plural society with a rich political and cultural heritage.
This heritage is a significant resource for the development of a unified polity that exemplifies the best aspects
of the European spirit.

The IFB works on the interpretation, promotion, documentation, research, and conservation of cultural heritage
in Bosnia, including projects for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of built heritage destroyed or significantly
damaged during the 1991-1996 war. The IFB operates through its members, projects, and associated ventures.
Its headquarters are in Sarajevo and there are three regional centres, Banja Luka, Mostar, and Tuzla. There are
twelve thematic-research centres: the Centres for Strategic Studies, Education, Language Studies, Media,
Protection of Natural Heritage, Students Programmes, Historical Studies, Regional Cooperation, Gender Issues,
Cultural Heritage, Interreligious Dialogue, and Technology and Economic Development (with two sections:
entrepreneurship and public/private partnership and advanced and information technology).

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON UNITY AND PLURALITY IN EUROPE (ICUPE)

The Conference on Unity and Plurality in Europe is an annual event, organized by International Forum Bosnia in
Mostar starting on last Sunday in July since 2005. It combines pluralist perspectives on religious thought with
social scientific research on tolerance, civil society, cultural heritage, religions, identities.

The entire conference is conceived as a long-term exercise in developing international networks for this type of
exchange of knowledge, views, and approaches. The organizers believe that this will contribute to the
interpretation of religion and heritage as agencies of peace and act as a barrier to their abuse and
instrumentalization by ethno-national, ethnoreligious, and other ideologies and sources of tension and conflict.
 TOPOGRAPHIES OF VIOLENCE: SITES OF
MEMORY AND THE LEGACY OF GENOCIDE
CONCEPT

Conference "Unity and Plurality in Europe" (ICUPE20) serves both as an act of remembrance and a platform for
critical inquiry into the enduring heritage of genocidal violence. The conference will take place in Sarajevo,
Mostar, and Stolac—cities whose geographies have been shaped by destruction and suffering, yet whose
present and future are grounded in a cosmopolitan commitment to recovery and resilience.

Why are historiographical studies, despite their significance, insufficient for a comprehensive understanding of
the realities shaped by genocide and the contexts in which it becomes possible? What is the "heritage of
genocide" as distinct from the history of genocide? Why do we describe genocidal violence—ideological,
political, physical, and biological—not as a thing of the past but as a persistent heritage that continues to shape
individuals and communities?

While historical studies highlight the narrative and event-based dimensions of genocide, memorial studies and
interdisciplinary perspectives insist on the necessity of understanding its lasting effects on space, identity,
cultural memory, intergenerational trauma, and socio-political structures. Legacy entails the reception,
preservation, and transmission of collective values deemed essential to the vitality of a community. Though the
term "genocidal heritage" may seem a contradiction in literal terms, this conference will provide a framework
for its theoretical, ethical, and epistemological interrogation.

The conference will raise questions concerning cultural and historical trauma—how it shapes social values, under
what conditions it may catalyze social strengthening and transformation—and examine the roles of cultural
production, ethical responsibility, and political struggle in the fight for memory and resistance against all forms
of genocidal action, wherever and whenever they occur.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 78/282, adopted in May 2024, designates 11 July as the
International Day of Remembrance and Reflection on the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. This resolution
represents a pivotal moment in the international community’s acknowledgment of the atrocities committed
during the War against Bosnia and serves as a catalyst for global dialogue on genocide remembrance,
accountability, and prevention.

In line with the Resolution, this Twentieth International Conference aims to contribute to the global
responsibility the resolution invokes. At the same time, it will underscore the enduring reverberations of
genocidal ideologies and practices in Bosnia and globally. Recognizing that the Resolution affirms the importance
of remembrance and education as key instruments in preventing future atrocities, the members of International
Forum Bosnia take on the responsibility of shaping academic and public discourse through scholarly debate,
scientific publications, and the International Summer School “Youth and Heritage.”

Over the past two decades, this conference has gathered influential scholars from across the world to explore
the nature of violence with the aim of seeking justice, building peace, and imagining a sustainable future for
Bosnia and Herzegovina and humanity at large. Through its programming and publications, the conference
stands as the most persistent initiative of its kind in the world to date.
This year’s conference will contribute to the scholarly articulation of the relationship between genocide and
place. From Raphael Lemkin’s early insights in Axis Rule in Occupied Europe (1944)—where the destruction of
culture, sacred spaces, and heritage was identified not as a side effect but as an integral part of genocide—to
the narrowed legal definition in the 1948 UN Convention, the question of space and place remains critical. The
spatial dimension of genocide is further conceptualized through Claudia Card’s notion of social death (Genocide
and Social Death, Hypatia, 2003), which argues: “not every social death is genocide; but every genocide is a form
of social death.” This insight is foundational to a geographic approach to violence, as it positions place—not
merely as a witness to past violence—but as a medium through which identity, memory, and cultural continuity
are erased or preserved.

Sites marked by genocide are not only physical locations but also spaces of social disintegration—and,
potentially, of resistance, remembrance, and recovery. In the geography of violence, such spaces become crucial
for understanding how genocidal logic is spatially embodied, and how memory practices—commemoration,
documentation, reconstruction—can serve as responses to social death and vehicles for cultural resurgence.

Conference discussions will include, among other topics:

• how space bears witness to trauma, and the relationship between place and lived experience of pain,
loss, and survival;
• - how ruptures in space, emptiness and absences manifest in mental geographies;
• the impact of destroyed or altered places on individuals and communities;
• the ways in which sites are transformed through processes of confronting trauma, including their role
in collective recovery;
• how survivors and generations shaped by historical trauma relate to and reinterpret spaces marked by
violence.

Particular attention will be given to experiential and symbolic dimensions of landscapes of trauma, including
reflections based on Hariz Halilovich’s concept of “places of pain”—the trajectories and memories of those
forcibly displaced, along with their mental maps, rituals, and attachments, which persist across generations
(Places of Pain: Forced Displacement, Popular Memory and Trans-local Identities in Bosnian War-Torn
Communities, 2013). Additional emphasis will be placed on “places of pain and shame”—sites of violence
discussed in the volume edited by William Logan and Keir Reeves (Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with
‘Difficult Heritage’, 2008). The program will also engage with the concept of "trauma-activated development,"
as defined by Amra Hadžimuhamedović (Heritage Reconstruction and People: Post-trauma Recovery, 2025),
asking how places marked by suffering can become laboratories for resilience, remembrance, and
transformation.

It will highlight how international recognition—such as that embodied in UN Resolution 78/282—can serve as
both a legal milestone and a symbolic framework for confronting the legacies of atrocity, affirming the rights of
victims, and advancing a cosmopolitan vision of justice.

In emphasizing the enduring relevance of Srebrenica as a site of both grief and global conscience, the discussion
will also address how such resolutions can act as tools for transnational solidarity, counteract political
revisionism, and contribute to the stopping of ongoing and prevention of future genocidal acts. By taking
Srebrenica—an epitome of “the crime of crimes” and of the international community’s failure to uphold its
responsibility to prevent genocide—as a point of departure, the conference extends its reflection to both legally
recognised genocides and those acts of genocidal violence that remain unacknowledged or occurred prior to the
legal codification of genocide in 1948. It also addresses ongoing genocidal acts and crimes against humanity,
which—despite being rendered highly visible and accessible through today’s global media and digital
platforms—often unfold as tragic performances of stark contrast: between cruelty and suffering on the one
hand, and global impotence or indifference on the other. This broader perspective raises critical questions about
whose lives are deemed grievable and whose are rendered ungrievable, borrowing Judith Butler’s seminal
framing. In doing so, the conference seeks to foster dialogue aimed at building peaceful, just, and inclusive
societies.

TIMETABLE

OPENING REMARKS
Rusmir Mahmutćehajić,
Federal Minister of Science and Sports,
20.00 -20.30
Federal Minister of Displaced Persons and
Refugees

27- 07 - 2025. PANEL 1: ANTHROPOLOGY OF PLACE-COMMUNITY AFTER GENOCIDE IN EAST BOSNIA

Moderator Safet Hadžimuhamedović

Safet HadžiMuhamedović
20.30 -22.00 Hariz Halilovich
Jasmin Tabaković

ACADEMIC DIALOGUE: GENOCIDAL ANTI-BOSNIANISM – CONCEPTUALIZATION AND

RESEARCH HORIZONS Moderator: Asim Zubčević
Rusmir Mahmutćehajić
9.00 -10.00
Hikmet Karčić

10.00-10.15 BREAK

PANEL 2. SITES OF PAIN – SURVIVORS'S MEMORY AND INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA -

moderator Marko Antonio Brkić
Desmond Maurer: Genocide and the Erasure of Place:
10.25 - 10.40 On the violent erasure of place and memory in Bosnia,
focusing on the case of Foča.
Dana Alnafoury: From War to Art to Archaeology: A
10.40 - 10.55
Personal Reflection on Syria
28- 07-2025 Margareta Wetchy: Absent Presences: Fragmented
11.55-11.10
Memory and the Ethics of its Reclamation
Zaki Aslan – Cultural Heritage Preservation as
11.10 - 11.25
Resistance to Genocidal Spatial Erasure.

11.25 - 12. 00 Disscussion

12.00 - 13.00 BREAK

13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH

PANEL 3. GENOCIDE, SPACE, JUSTICE, AND MEMORY: THE CASE OF SREBRENICA AND ITS
GLOBAL RESONANCE - Moderator Ahmed Kulanić
16.10 - 16.25 Aarif Abraham – Genocide: Seeing Through Legal and
Political Contestations
 16.25-16.40 Sonja Biserko, – Srebrenica as a Warning: Truth,
Justice, and Responsibility in Confronting Genocide
16. 40 - 16.55 Senadin Lavić,– The United Nations Resolution on the
Genocide in Srebrenica – Political, Legal, and Global
Significance
16. 55- 17.30
Discussion

17.30 - 18.00
Break

PANEL 4: RECOVERY, RECONNECTION, AND ADVERSITY-ACTIVATED DEVELOPMENT

18.40 -19.00 Sofya Shahab, Youth engagements with heritage

futures: Possibilities for 'pacific' heritage in the Middle
East
19.00 -19.10 Maria Ritta Acetoso: Cultural Heritage in post-conflict
contexts: building resilence're-constructing social
tolerance and cohesion
19.10 - 19.30
Shadia Touqan: In the Presence of Absence

19.30 - 20.00
Discussion

20.00 - 21.00
Večera

1-08-2025 20.00 - 23.00 CLOSING EVENT: "INVISIBLE TRACES" – SELMAN

SELMANAGIĆ AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF
FORGETTING IN GENOCIDAL AFTERMATHS
PANEL 1: ANTHROPOLOGY OF PLACE-COMMUNITY AFTER GENOCIDE IN EAST BOSNIA

Mostar, 27 July 2025, 20:30 - 22.00

Moderator: Safet HadžiMuhamedović

Panellists:

Hariz Halilovich—an award-winning social anthropologist and author—is Professor of Global Studies and
Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies (GUSS), RMIT
University, Melbourne. His research has focused on place-based identities, politically motivated violence
(including genocide), forced migration, memory studies, and human rights.

Jasmin Tabaković, a Postdoctoral Affiliate in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, examines
how communities live with the afterlives of genocidal violence. His work blends decolonial, feminist theory
with non-extractive methodologies to explore healing practices, embodied memory, and radical care across
disrupted social and psychological landscapes.

Safet HadžiMuhamedović, an anthropologist specializing in landscape, religion, and politics. A Research Fellow
at the University of Stirling, he has taught at major European universities and conducted extensive fieldwork in
Bosnia. He authored Waiting for Elijah: Time and Encounter in a Bosnian Landscape (2018).

In this conversation, three Bosnian anthropologists consider what happens to place—as home, social fabric, and
material articulation of relation—after genocide. Their anthropological work addresses not only the devastating
effects of violence and the protracted, genocidal place-making in the riverine and mountainous regions of east
Bosnia, but also the subtle, long-duration social relations of religiously plural communities, and the extraordinary
lives of the people who—as survivors, refugees, and returnees—continue to keep alive the places and
communities once designated for erasure.

Drawing on their personal experiences and geographies of expertise—from Brčko, Višegrad, Klotjevac,
Srebrenica, Gacko, and Trebinje to Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Australia—they ask: How does
genocide shape places in the present? Was Bosnian plurality the target of place–community destruction? What
is the dynamic of place within dreams and nightmares, memories, diasporic websites, rituals, and other echoes
of communal texture after genocide? How can we locate east Bosnian landscapes through their
cosmologies? What does it mean to live with Serbia’s genocide against Bosnians in the everyday of the returnees
and refugees from east Bosnia? How does this lived experience compare with national discourses of
memorialisation and martyrdom? What can be said of the more-than-human memories of genocide—
particularly the rivers and karst landscapes used as mass graves, or as repositories for the fragments of destroyed
architecture? Do such memories, and the affective echoes of violence, leave space for remembering these same
rivers as sites of communal gathering, leisure, syncretic rituals, and the appreciation of beauty?
Hariz, Jasmin, and Safet will explore the remarkable ways in which place–community resists erasure—from the
rebuilding efforts of returnees, through diasporic rituals and summer schools, to ongoing calls for justice,
healing, and heritage reconstruction.

ACADEMIC DIALOGUE: GENOCIDAL ANTI-BOSNIANISM – CONCEPTUALIZATION AND

RESEARCH HORIZONS

Mostar, 28 July 2025, Hotel Bristol Conference Hall 9.00 - 10.00 AM

Moderator: Asim Zubčević

Dr. Asim Zubčević is an associate professor at the Department of Islamic Civilization and head of that Department
at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences of the University of Sarajevo. His areas of academic and scientific interest are:
private libraries, Bosnian culture, books of the Ottoman period and Bosnian cultural history. language and
literature.

Speakers:

Rusmir Mahmutćehajić

Rusmir Mahmutćehajić is a Bosnian academic, author, and former statesman. Considered one of Bosnia's
leading intellectuals and public figures, he leads International Forum Bosnia and writes widely on politics,
religion, and Bosnian identity with current focus on antibosnianism and genocidal ideologies and policies.

Hikmet Karčić is a genocide and Holocaust scholar based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was the 2017
Auschwitz Institute-Keene State College Global Fellow who has written extensively on genocide denial and
atrocity prevention. A sought after commentator on international media outlets, his articles covering far-right
extremism and mass atrocities have appeared in Haaretz, Newsweek and Foreign Policy.

This academic dialogue will explore the emerging and urgent concept of genocidal anti-Bosnianism, as
developed in the seminal work of Professor Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, president of the International Forum Bosnia.
Based on Mahmutćehajić’s capital study, the discussion will delve into the ideological and structural dimensions
of this phenomenon and its significance for understanding both historical and contemporary dynamics of
violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The event will mark a major intellectual milestone: the formal launch of a
key research and public engagement initiative by the International Forum Bosnia, on the occasion of the 30th
anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.

In conversation, Mahmutćehajić and one of the leading scholars of genocide studies— Dr. Hikmet Karčić
(Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law, University of Sarajevo), invited by the
author himself—will examine:

• The conceptual foundations and implications of genocidal anti-Bosnianism as a framework for

interpreting systemic violence,
• The ideological, institutional, and societal manifestations of this anti-Bosnian worldview across time,
• Methodological and theoretical approaches necessary to investigate its development, transmission,
and impact,
• The ethical and scholarly responsibilities of identifying, documenting, and confronting genocidal
ideologies, intentions, and acts.

At its core, genocidal anti-Bosnianism refers not only to acts of physical extermination but to a sustained and
structured hostility toward Bosnia’s pluralistic identity, its interwoven cultural legacies, and its vision of
coexistence. This concept challenges reductionist understandings of genocide that focus solely on acts of killing,
and instead emphasizes the deeper ontological and civilizational antagonism directed at Bosnia’s inclusive,
plural, and transcultural character.

The dialogue will also consider how genocidal anti-Bosnianism functions as both a historical force—embedded
in imperial, nationalist, and totalitarian projects—and as a contemporary threat, reinforced by revisionism,
denial, and ongoing institutional discrimination. Its study demands interdisciplinary engagement, incorporating
political theory, legal studies, sociology, philosophy, theology, and cultural history.
This inaugural dialogue signals the beginning of a long-term strategic direction for the International Forum
Bosnia, integrating the study of genocidal anti-Bosnianism into public discourse, educational programming,
exhibitions, publications, and international partnerships. The initiative seeks to establish broad cooperation with
academic institutions, civil society organizations, and individuals in Bosnia and globally.

As part of this effort, a Program Advisory Council will be formed, consisting of honorary members of the
International Forum Bosnia previously appointed. These efforts aim to embed the exploration of genocidal anti-
Bosnianism into institutional memory and scholarly engagement, ensuring that the lessons of the past are
translated into critical awareness and resilience-building for the future.

PANEL 2: SITES OF PAIN – SURVIVORS'S MEMORY AND INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA

Mostar, 28 July 2025, hotel Bristol Conference Hall 10.15 - 12.00 AM

Moderator: Marko-Antonio Brkić

Marko Antonio Brkic, assistant minister for science and technology in Federal ministry of science and education.
Engaged in scholarly work in the fields of philosophy of religion, sociology of religion, religious education, and
educational management.

The destruction of homes, sacred places, cemeteries, urban infrastructure, and landscapes constitutes a form of
violence that extends beyond the material. It attacks the symbolic and functional anchors of communal life,
seeking to prevent the return of displaced populations, eliminate cultural reference points, and permanently
disrupt social cohesion. In this sense, place becomes both the target and the medium of genocidal intent. This
objective is to explore the complex intersections of memory, trauma, and space through the lens of those who
have survived genocidal violence. Framed around the concept of “places of pain,” the discussion will focus on
the affective geographies of trauma, the intergenerational transmission of memory, and the ways in which
silence, testimony, and memorialization shape both individual and collective experiences of the past. the use of
spatial destruction as an instrument of genocide; the systematic targeting of cultural, religious, and architectural
landmarks; and comparative spatial and temporal case studies from diverse historical and geopolitical contexts.

This discussion will approach trauma not only as a psychological phenomenon but also as a spatial, social, and
cultural condition. The concept of “place” will be explored as both a witness to suffering and a potential site of
healing, activism, and resistance. By examining the architecture of remembrance, the ethnography of silence,
and the poetics of space, the panel seeks to advance a deeper understanding of how memory is inscribed,
embodied, and negotiated in post-genocide societies.

10.25 - 10.40 Desmond Maurer: Genocide and the Erasure of Place: On the violent
erasure of place and memory in Bosnia, focusing on the case of Foča.
Desmond Maurer The Director of International Forum Bosnia’s Centre for Historical Studies, he has a
background in classical languages, ancient philosophy, and medieval belief systems, with further training
in sociology, economics, and nationalism. With 30 years in Bosnia, he has worked in the UN, academia,
and publishing, focusing on religion, secularism, genocide, and intellectual history.

10.40 - 10.55 Dana Alnafoury: From War to Art to Archaeology: A Personal Reflection
on Syria
Dana Aklnafoury is a Syrian artist and researcher based in Japan, currently pursuing a PhD in History and
Anthropology at the University of Tsukuba. With a background in fine arts and archaeology, current
research focuses on Neolithic visual culture in Southwest Asia. Artistic practice explores memory, identity,
and heritage through painting and UV-reactive installations.
11.55-11.10 Margareta Wetchy: Absent Presences: Fragmented Memory and the
Ethics of its Reclamation
Margareta Wetchy has studied Anthropology, English, and Oriental Studies at the University of Vienna,
Austria. For her doctoral, she analyzed religious-theological references in Arabic text documents by the
"Islamic State". After having spent several years in (applied) research on different phenomena of
extremism, she has joined the team of Memory of War and Peace in 2025.

11.10 - 11.25 Zaki Aslan – Cultural Heritage Preservation as Resistance to Genocidal

Spatial Erasure. Drawing on field experience from Mosul, Gaza, Aleppo,
and the West Bank
Zaki Aslan is an architect and heritage expert who directed ICCROM-Sharjah for 21 years, leading
conservation programs across the Arab region. He has managed heritage projects, policy development,
and capacity building in collaboration with UNESCO, EU, USAID, and other international organizations.

11.25 - 12. 00 Disscussion

GENOCIDE, SPACE, JUSTICE, AND MEMORY: THE CASE OF SREBRENICA AND ITS GLOBAL
RESONANCE

Mostar, 28 July 2025 16.00-17.30

Moderator: Ahmed Kulanić,

Ahmed Kulanić, hold PHd in Political Sciences and Sociology, lecturer at the International University Sarajevo,
assitant professor Istanbul Commerce University, served as director of the Memorial Centre Sarajevo.

What happens when a place becomes a symbol of both horror and memory? This session brings together
scholars and practitioners from international law, political science, human rights, and cultural heritage to reflect
on the legacy of the Srebrenica genocide and the global questions it continues to raise about truth, denial,
justice, and spatial erasure.

Sonja Biserko confronts the political and ideological denial of the Srebrenica genocide, focusing on the Serbian
nationalist narrative that continues to obscure accountability. She draws attention to how genocide denial,
coupled with the glorification of convicted war criminals, not only wounds survivors but undermines prospects
for peace. Her presentation argues that genuine remembrance must be rooted in truth, justice, and a
dismantling of the ideological structures that enabled genocide in the first place.

Senadin Lavić reflects on the recent United Nations resolution on Srebrenica, exploring its significance as a global
acknowledgment of genocide. He considers how such international acts of recognition influence cultures of
memory, shape norms of accountability, and open space for renewed commitments to justice. The resolution,
he argues, is more than symbolic—it is a statement of shared responsibility and an instrument for resisting
historical revisionism.

Aarif Abraham turns to the legal and political tensions surrounding the term GENOCIDE. While victims may
instinctively recognize atrocities as genocidal, states and courts often hesitate. He unpacks this dissonance by
examining the latest international jurisprudence, showing how clarity in law is essential not just for recognition,
but for timely action. Abraham makes the case for using the law not defensively, but as a tool of prevention and
moral clarity.
Together, the contributors explore genocide not only as the annihilation of people, but also of place, memory,
and the right to return. Their insights reveal how cultural destruction, legal denial, and territorial fragmentation
deepen the impact of genocide—and how strategies of recognition, preservation, and accountability can
challenge these forces.

Rooted in the Bosnian experience but reaching far beyond it, this conversation opens a space to think ethically
and critically about what it means to remember genocide, to speak truth in the face of denial, and to protect the
physical and symbolic spaces that connect people to their histories. Rather than closing a chapter, Srebrenica
remains a call to action: to confront ongoing structures of violence and build frameworks for justice that are as
resilient and enduring as memory itself. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives—including international law,
moral philosophy, human rights, and memory studies—the panelisst will critically examine how the spatial
dimensions of genocide intersect with demands for justice, recognition, and ethical remembrance. Drawing on
interdisciplinary perspectives from genocide studies, critical geography, and heritage studies, the panelists will
explore how spatial violence contributes to the rupture of social connections and communal frameworks that
sustain group identity. In this light, the panelists will examine how acts of destruction, erasing places, and the
annihilation of cultural heritage serve to deepen the effects of genocidal policies and practices. The panel will
explore legal and moral responses to genocide within specific spatial contexts, considering how geography,
territorial identity, and the erasure or transformation of place shape both the violence itself and the paths to
redress. Special attention will be given to how the destruction of space (e.g., cultural heritage, religious sites,
community structures) functions as a core genocidal strategy aimed at obliterating both physical and symbolic
presence. It will analyze the role of international institutions—including UNESCO, the United Nations, and
various international tribunals and advocacy bodies—in recognizing atrocities, safeguarding memory, and
holding perpetrators accountable.
The discussion will assess the effectiveness, limitations, and evolving frameworks of these institutions in
addressing genocide as a spatial and cultural crime, not merely as mass killing. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be
examined as a referential case for understanding genocide and ethnic cleansing globally. The post-conflict
recovery, international legal processes (including those of the ICTY), and the struggle for memory preservation
offer crucial insights into how justice and remembrance can (or fail to) address the spatial and existential
dimensions of genocidal violence. The Bosnian case also highlights the importance of contested spaces and the
political economy of denial and revisionism.Finally, the panel will reflect on the enduring global effects of
genocidal ideologies, considering how these continue to inform nationalist, exclusionary, and supremacist
discourses across different regions. By drawing connections between Bosnia and other genocidal contexts, the
panel aims to advance a global ethics of memory—one that resists historical amnesia, promotes transnational
solidarity, and foregrounds the spatial and moral urgency of remembrance in an increasingly polarized world.
This panel forms part of a wider effort to position Bosnia and Herzegovina not only as a site of past atrocity but
also as a moral and intellectual locus for articulating universal lessons about the nature of genocide, justice, and
the collective ethical responsibility to remember.

16.10 - 16.25 Aarif Abraham – Genocide: Seeing Through Legal and Political
Contestations
Aarif Abraham is a leading barrister in international criminal and human rights law, founder of
Accountability Unit and the Yazidi Justice Committee. He advises governments, NGOs, and the UN on
atrocity crimes, peacebuilding, and constitutional reform. Author and speaker, he has led major global
justice initiatives including tribunals on genocide and aggression.

16.25-16.40 Sonja Biserko, – Srebrenica as a Warning: Truth, Justice, and

Responsibility in Confronting Genocide
Sonja Biserko is the founder and president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, a
former diplomat, and a human rights activist known for her criticism of Greater Serbian policies and
advocacy for Serbia’s accountability for war crimes.
16. 40 - 16.55 Senadin Lavić,– The United Nations Resolution on the Genocide in
Srebrenica – Political, Legal, and Global Significance
Senadin Lavic is proffessor at the Sociology Departnent, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of
Sarajevo, author of 8 books on socio-political phenomenology, cultural politics, and Bosnian political
reality.
16. 55- 17.30 Disscussion

PANEL 4: RECOVERY, RECONNECTION, AND ADVERSITY-ACTIVATED DEVELOPMENT

Mostar, 28 July 2025 18.30 - 20.00

Moderator: Amra Hadžimuhamedović

In post-conflict societies, recovery and redevelopment are not merely technical or economic challenges—they
are profoundly social, cultural, and emotional processes. This panel explores the possibilities of healing,
reconnection, and regeneration in communities that have endured the traumas of war and genocide. It
addresses the ways in which space, human relationships, creativity, and nature contribute to a shared recovery
rooted in adversity. Core Themes:

• Reweaving Meaning and Social Relations in Post-War Communities:

The first segment will examine how communities reconstruct interpersonal ties and social trust
following collective violence. Beyond material rebuilding, it explores how narratives, rituals, and
everyday interactions contribute to re-establishing a sense of belonging, meaning, and hope in
fractured societies.
• Spatial Reconstruction as the Foundation of Social Recovery:
Drawing from interdisciplinary insights, this segment will explore how the restoration and redesign of
destroyed urban, cultural, and domestic environments serve as key drivers of collective healing. The
discussion will address the political, architectural, and symbolic dimensions of rebuilding, with a focus
on the relationship between space and identity in post-conflict settings.
• The Role of Creative Processes, Nature, and Community-Led Initiatives in Healing:
This segment emphasizes the importance of art, memory practices, ecological restoration, and
grassroots efforts as catalysts for emotional, cultural, and psychological recovery. By drawing on
examples from different global contexts, speakers will illustrate how adversity-informed development
must include avenues for communal agency, ecological sensitivity, and cultural expression.

This disscussion brings together a diverse group of international experts engaged in post-conflict reconstruction,
memory work, development studies, and human rights activism. Each of them contributes unique perspectives
on how societies can cultivate resilience and repair through inclusive and transformative approaches.

18.40 -19.00 Sofya Shahab, Youth engagements with heritage futures: Possibilities for
'pacific' heritage in the Middle East
Sofya is a Senior Lecturer and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Stirling. Her anti-colonial,
feminist research explores how communities, especially youth and minorities, experience and mobilize
heritage amid violence, focusing on emotions, belonging, and the shaping of landscapes in peacebuilding
and political conflict.
19.00 -19.10 Maria Ritta Acetoso: Cultural Heritage in post-conflict contexts: building
resilence're-constructing social tolerance and cohesion
Maria Ritta Acetoso is Chief of the Culture Unit at UNESCO Antenna for Ukraine. She managed UNESCO7s
project Reviving Spirit of Mosul and UNESCO7 projects in Afghanistan.

19.10 - 19.30 Shadia Touqan: In the Presence of Absence

Shadia Touqan is a Palestinian, British, and Jordanian architect and urban planner specializing in urban
renewal and post-conflict reconstruction. With a PhD from UCL, she has led key heritage preservation
initiatives, including in Jerusalem and at UNESCO. She has published widely on revitalizing historic cities
and serves on the board of Ta’awon, advocating for Palestinian cultural heritage.

19.30 - 20.00 Discussion

CLOSING EVENT: "INVISIBLE TRACES" – SELMAN SELMANAGIĆ AND THE ARCHITECTURE

OF FORGETTING IN GENOCIDAL AFTERMATHS

Stolac, 1st August, 2025 - 20.00

The conference concludes with an interactive exhibition and panel discussion of emerging Bosnian scholars,
participants to the INternational Summer School Youth and Heritage, dedicated to the life and legacy of Selman
Selmanagić (1905–1986), a Bauhaus-trained architect of Bosnian origin, born in Srebrenica. Despite his
significant contribution to post-World War II modernist architecture—especially in his role in the urban and
cultural reconstruction of Berlin—Selmanagić remains largely unrecognized in the public and academic discourse
of former Yugoslavia.

The discussion takes as its point of departure the marginalization of Selmanagić's biography, which was
reintroduced into Bosnian scholarly discourse through a single posthumous study published by Dr. Aida Abadžić-
Hodžić. The session repositions Selmanagić not only as a visionary architect but also as a symbol of systemic
erasure, whose life trajectory mirrors the broader patterns of post-genocidal silencing and dislocation.

Key Discussion Points:

• The Role of Forgetting in the Systematic Marginalization of Individual Contributions:

How do institutional and ideological frameworks erase figures whose identities challenge dominant
national narratives? What are the broader consequences of such erasures for cultural and historical
continuity?
• Spatial and Symbolic Dimensions of Memory Architecture:
The discussion will explore how architecture can function both as a medium of remembrance and a
vehicle for forgetting. Selmanagić’s work will be examined through the lens of architectural memory,
heritage politics, and cultural displacement.
• Selmanagić’s Biography as a Case Study in the Long-Term Effects of Genocidal Violence:
The session will consider how the marginalization of Selmanagić’s contributions reflects the lingering
impact of genocidal ideologies, including the obliteration of cultural memory, intellectual legacy, and
rootedness.
• The Reflections of Homeland Longing in Selmanagić’s Life and Work:
Attention will be given to how Selmanagić maintained his emotional and symbolic ties to his Bosnian
homeland, even as his professional life unfolded elsewhere—highlighting how exile, nostalgia, and
cultural rootedness intertwine in the post-genocide experience.