Srebreničko kolo (The Circle dance of Srebrenica)


‘Kolo’ is a Bosnian circle dance originating from Mediaeval times, similar to circle dances in many other cultures around the world.  An old Bosnian proverb says that those who form an alliance are “dancing ‘Kolo’ together.’ This series illustrates a metaphorical dance, in which Serbian soldiers dance with UN soldiers. They have traded clothes, so it is hard to tell who is who, as they spin around. The exchange of clothing is directly drawn from photo of UN and Serbian soldiers, drinking together, hanging out, and exchanging hats, prior to the genocide in Serbenica.

“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
 -George Orwell, Animal Farm

The UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a “Safe Area” through a resolution in 1993. They disarmed the Bosnian resistance army, and placed the area  under the mandate of a UN peacekeeping force, with support of NATO. Instead of intervention, the area was abandoned to Serbian forces. Unarmed Bosnian men who had sought refuge at a UN Base were handed over to the attackers. They had been promised safety, but thousands were massacred, including 350 men who had worked at the UN base. 

The Dutch general of the UN force, Thomas Karremans was recorded cheering, kissing, and exchanging gifts with the Serbian general Ratio Mladic. Later, having retreated to Croatia, UN soldiers organized a celebration in which they danced ‘Kolo.’ 
Mladic was convicted of charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes  by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2017. The Dutch Supreme Court found the state of the Netherlands was 10% liable for the deaths of the 350 men who were handed over to the Bosnian Serb Army—but what does it mean to be 10% guilty? The responsibility is blurred and uncertain, like the moving dancers.

The circular movement of Kolo is symbolic of cycles, of historical repetition. The dance in the painting symbolizes the tragic repetition of the worst forms of evil, genocide.




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