2006 / 1996 Siege of Sarajevo
DESCRIPTION
An extraordinary visual record of the Siege of Sarajevo, this richly illustrated pictorial map transforms one of the longest urban sieges of the twentieth century into a detailed guide to a city fighting for survival.
Published by FAMA International in Sarajevo in 2006, the bird's-eye view documents the Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996), the nearly four-year encirclement of Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital during the Bosnian War. Rather than concentrating solely on military operations, the artist depicts Sarajevo as a functioning city filled with neighborhoods, bridges, churches, mosques, museums, schools, government buildings, and Olympic venues. Surrounding the city is an almost continuous ring of tanks, artillery, trenches, armored vehicles, and military positions, emphasizing the isolation imposed by the siege and the contrast between everyday civilian life and the forces that enclosed it.
The City of Sarajevo Surrounded
The map rewards careful study. Pink targeting circles draw attention to important landmarks that are described individually on the verso, allowing readers to connect locations on the map with their accompanying histories. Small explosion symbols identify sites damaged during the conflict, creating a striking visual record of the destruction suffered by Sarajevo's cultural institutions, religious buildings, hospitals, markets, and public spaces. Scattered across the city rather than confined to a single district, the symbols demonstrate how few parts of Sarajevo escaped the violence.
The reverse expands upon the map with an illustrated guide containing dozens of entries devoted to individual buildings, neighborhoods, monuments, and public institutions. Each explains the significance of its subject and, in many cases, what happened there during the siege. The extensive text and photographs turn the sheet into an encyclopedia of Sarajevo at war, recording not only where events unfolded but how ordinary civic life continued under extraordinary circumstances.
Preserving the Memory of the Siege
Issued a decade after the siege ended, the map was created during a period when Sarajevo was still rebuilding from the physical and human devastation of the war. Its detailed treatment of individual landmarks preserves the geography of the conflict while showing the extraordinary concentration of civilian, cultural, and religious sites caught within the siege lines.
Produced by Sarajevo-based FAMA International, an organization dedicated to documenting the Siege of Sarajevo, this map forms part of a larger effort to preserve the city's wartime history through maps, publications, exhibitions, films, and archival research. FAMA's close connection to Sarajevo and its extensive documentation of the conflict give this unusual pictorial map considerably greater historical interest than a conventional commemorative or tourist publication.
CONDITION
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