My Body: A War Zone: Documenting stories of wartime sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Nepal. (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Simić, Olivera
• Is Part Of: Journal of arts and communities. Volume 8:Number 1/2(2016)
• Page Start: 11
• Page End: 30
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: Community arts projects -- Periodicals; Art and society -- Periodicals; Artists and community -- Periodicals; 306.4705
• DOI: 10.1386/jaac.8.1-2.11_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-1936

Abstract

A photo exhibition My Body: A War Zone features the portraits and testimonies of women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The exhibition aims to bring attention to individual stories in an effort to overcome the silence and stigma associated with CRSV. This article will analyse this transnational project that brings four acclaimed photographers from different parts of the globe to reconstruct women's images and testimonies in public city spaces. The article will focus on the Bosnian and Nepali parts of the photo exhibition, and will draw on fieldwork and interviews with Velma Šarić, the curator and organizer of the Bosnian exhibitions, and NayanTara, an independent photographer and curator based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The article argues that while art cannot replace formal judicial mechanisms or material reparation, grassroots artistic initiatives may offer significant and distinct reparative contributions to transitional justice processes.