A Crime That Was Waiting to Happen
The data collected over the years by courts, publications and research are presented in the form of exhibitions, documentaries, lectures and debates in order to inform the public about the facts of the war in Kosovo and to create a new comprehensive space for the creation of collective memory.
The political crisis that had been developing in Kosovo from the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s culminated in an armed conflict between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia and the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, from mid-1998. During that conflict there were incidents where excessive and indiscriminate force was used by the Yugoslav Army (VJ) and Serbian Police units of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), resulting in civilian deaths, population displacement and damage to civilian property. Despite efforts to bring the crisis to an end, which included sending an international verification mission to Kosovo, the conflict continued through to and beyond 24 March 1999, when NATO forces launched an air campaign against targets in the FRY. The bombing campaign ended on 10 June 1999, followed by the withdrawal of FRY and Serbian forces from Kosovo.
Ismet Jonuzi is a painter and sculptor who lives and works in Kosovo. In the exhibition ‘Structure of Peace’, he brought to the viewers three sculptures made of weapons which were used during the war in Kosovo and which the artist found in a factory where they had gathered to destroy them. In his artistic practices he has used these weapons to create sculptures, thus changing their function and turning them into works of art.
Wade Goddard photographed the conflict, the armies, the destruction and the casualties in Kosovo, from late 1997 to late 1999 he worked for the New York Times and Newsweek magazine. His work did not end there because he returned to Kosovo during the years 2000 - 2001, giving his contribution to other European newspapers and magazines.
Iniciativa për seritë e diskutimeve të hapura të ‘Ballafaqimi me të kaluarën - Historitë’ ka për qëllim tregimin e historive të njerëzve të ndryshëm, si kanë jetuar para luftës, si kanë jetuar gjatë luftës dhe si jetojnë sot. Këto diskutime mbahen në Qendrën e Dokumentimit Kosovë, hapësira publike e FDHK-së, e cila është krijuar për të informuar dhe dokumentuar luftën e Kosovës përmes ballafaqimit me të kaluarën dhe drejtësinë tranzicionale.
Arsyeja e këtyre diskutimeve është të krijojë një platformë që të ndahen përvojat e njerëzve në mënyrë që të ofrohet një kuptim më i plotë i ndikimit të luftës tek individët dhe komunitetet.
Për më tepër, diskutimet synojnë të krijojnë një mundësi që publiku të mësojë më shumë për përvojat e atyre që janë ndikuar drejtpërdrejt nga lufta. Kjo kontribuon në një kuptim më të mirë edhe të ndikimeve shoqërore, kulturore dhe ekonomike të konfliktit.