War and Honey
I went yesterday to a photo gallery called “War and Honey: 10 Years of War.” The photos inside were immensely moving…ten photographers that covered the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian conflict (ethnic cleansing) that later resulted in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Something that still in the all-too-recent memory for many of the residents here.
The photos were incredible.
- A four panel frame. The first three panels are two men, forced to lie face down on the sidewalk, being kicked and beaten by anonymous soldiers. A fourth panel is absent of people, just a photo of the sidewalk, marred by still-wet pools of blood in the vague shape of two men.
- Bullet shattered windows after the war, with their occupants standing behind them with blank looks.
- A close-up on the face of a man, terrified, presumably told to kneel down, hands up, facing away from the solder behind him who’s cradling his assault rifle in one hand and palming two handguns in the other.
- The asphalt pavement of a street, with the shape of a person imprinted in white. The imprint was created by ash, for the person was burned…
- A field filled with casualties of a siege.
- Dubrovnik’s marina, an inferno.
- A snowy field, red with blood.
- Scared refugees huddled around a switch next to a rail line.
- A barrack, filled with soldiers sleeping on blankets.
- Men with their skin stretched so tight over their skeletal structures that full-definition of ribs and spine could be seen.
- A unit of the Serbian Tiger Army, posed around the front end of a tank, all wearing black masks, except the commander, standing in the middle, directly below the cannon, holding up a tiger cub by the skin of its head.
Is this the human condition? I certainly hope not. But is the result of war? My only perceptions of war are from movies and mass media, which always glorify the role of the soldier or the greater goal. It generalizes the civilian population, anonymizing them. But when viewed like this…
I’ve looked forward to going to Sarajevo because I’ve never seen a place torn apart by war. I know that Dubrovnik was involved in the aforementioned war, but there’s so much tourism here that it seemed that everything had been well repaired by now.
Then I saw it.
I walked into the Old Town this morning and immediately ran into a German tour group in front of a church.
Maybe he was gesturing, maybe he wasn’t. But his hand drew my eyes to the missing chunks in the otherwise smooth brick facade of the church. Missing chunks that looked like oddly shaped craters…
I wonder how I had missed it before. Perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough, perhaps they naturally blended into the weather-beaten bricks of the Old Town. But now, everywhere I looked, bullet-impact craters marred the walls. Chunks missing here, there. Pockmarks that marred the fountain. Everywhere, spots that had been mortared over and made smooth, but not enough to blend.
I found myself strolling and standing in the open of a former war zone. This may sound odd to some of you, but I started to imagine the place, crossed with gunfire. The wide street would have made for an open killing zone for anyone running across. I wonder if someone had lost their life in the very spot I was standing…
The image, augmented by my imagination filled with the photos from yesterday and Hollywood scenes was not a pretty one.
Of course, this is all very different today. Croatia is a beautiful country, with friendly people, a goregous coastline, and cities that feel like larger versions of Cinque Terre (hills and all). Oddly, hanging around here evokes feelings of being in the US, especially considering the availability of good, clean, bathrooms which are well-stocked with soap and paper towels (treasures after China). Dubrovnik’s Old Town, a walled city right on the coast of the turquoise blue waters of the sea, is quite picturesque.
There’s a huge classical music scene in Croatia. On Hvar I went to a piano recital (gratis!) of Anne-Marie Rouchon from Paris, in the Fransciscan Cloister of Hvar Town. Last night I went to a performance of the highly skilled Dubrovnik String Quartet in a small church, the same one with the cratered facade. I’ve also heard from the street more than a few children practicing their instruments.
Music from América Latina is also big here. More than a couple bars play Latin Music and the big club here is called “Latino Club.” I’m going tonight. Can’t wait. 
Heading to Montenegro tomorrow to spend a couple days at Dumitor National Park!
New photos up, including some catch up from Italy.
