Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Srebrenica massacre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 5, 2005 -- NeW YORK, NY, July 5, 2005 � The Academy of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering a new generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians living in the United States and abroad, will commemorate the ten year anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre with an art exhibition, an installation, a film screening and presentations by a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter and a Srebrenica survivor in the United Nations on July 11.

Srebrenica, declared the world's first United Nations Safe Area, was the site of the worst case of genocide in Europe since World War II. In July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army staged a takeover of this small Bosnian town and its surrounding region and executed as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslims. To date, more than 1300 victims have been identified and buried.

"The idea to commemorate Srebrenica victims has always been around. It belongs to all those who feel the responsibility to raise awareness about profound impacts of genocide," said Damir Pozderac, Srebrenica commemoration project director at the Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Commemorative events will begin with the opening of an art exhibition at the South End of the UN Lobby at noon on July 11. The exhibition will feature a selection of photographs and multimedia works by artists influenced by the genocide and its aftermath.

Also starting at noon, a Bosnian-American artist will set up an installation using coffee, soil and over 1000 coffee cups. Aida Sehovic will use porcelain coffee cups donated by Srebrenica survivors and Bosnian refugees and arrange them on the thin bed of soil in the shape of Bosnia. Each cup signifies one Srebrenica victim identified and reburied to date. Tape recorders will run tape loops of Aida reciting the names and the birthdates of the dead.

The installation will be followed by the screening of a documentary film at 6 pm at Dag Hammarskgold Auditorium. In �Crime and Punishment�, director Maria F. Warsinski documents the siege of Srebrenica with footage and interviews describing the journeys faced by survivors. The film has been shown to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

Following the film screening will be presentations by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Roy Gutman and Srebrenica survivor Sejdefa Đozić. Roy Gutman is Newsday�s foreign editor and is best known for his award-winning coverage of the 1993 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he provided the first documented reports of concentration camps.

The events are free and open to the public.

The Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a not-for-profit member-based organization based in New York with a mission to support the empowerment process of a new generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians through networking and coalescing of their creative forces and intellectual potential.