Monument in Waiting
Tapestry, booklets, animation (2008/11)
Commissioned by Stroom, The Hague, NL
Monument in Waiting is a collective testimony to the eviction and mass murder of civilians from Bosnia-Herzegovina under the aegis of genocide and ethnic cleansing, as well as the extermination of their cultural and historical traces. Places of worship were particularly targeted, destroying the previous period of peaceful cohabitation. While all ethnicities suffered destruction or damage of their cultural heritage, the number of destroyed mosques far outweighs the number of destroyed churches. The pattern woven into this kilim tells the story of war and its aftermath, which resonates in Bosnia even today. The project started with the historical and archival research of some 250 mosques (of the more than 1000 mosques) that were deliberately damaged or destroyed during the war. Nine case studies were chosen for a more detailed investigation. Interviews with a range of individuals engaged in the current rebuilding process gave insight into individual war experiences, histories, and approaches to restoration. This research material was then abstracted as kilim symbols. Each symbol is thus encoded with both personal memories and historical facts. My design process enabled the translation of the traditional Bosnian kilim iconography into signifiers of political and military aggression that threatened collectivity. This kilim is “waiting” to be displayed in the ICTY, where it will actualize its function as a monument.
The kilim was produced in collaboration with Amila Smajović and her Sarajevo-based workshop STILL-A, which employs refugee women as weavers. Three kilim borders, which usually symbolize levels of “protection” of the central kilim surface, are inspired by the Afghan war rugs. They use traditional local motifs, transformed into weapon-like symbols to describe the Bosnian war. The three borders lay siege to the “tree of life” motif at the center of the kilim, which is both a metaphor of the paradise garden and eternal afterlife. This tree tells the main kilim story. Each tree branch carries symbols that represent abstracted data and stories about the investigated mosques. By providing directionality in reading, the central composition shapes a double mihrab, an indicator of the direction of Mecca. The top of the kilim is intentionally left unfinished, which indicates the continuing and potentially endless process of closure through therapeutic means such as weaving. The “tree of life” displays new branches with new stories to be woven. Theoretically, these stories would need to encompass all the destroyed mosques, churches, and all other lost monuments in Bosnia-Herzegovina, an impossible goal. Still, the ritual hanging of the 99 prayer beads onto the kilim edge symbolically launches the process.
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Project commissioned by Stroom for the group exhibition Since we last spoke about monuments, curated by Mihnea Mircan.
Materials: handwoven wool kilim, 99 prayer beads collected in Bosnian mosques, 2 booklets, animation
Dimensions: kilim, 180 x 330 cm; booklets, 15 x 29 cm; animation, 5 min
Concept and artistic direction: Azra Akšamija
Research: Khadija Z. Carroll, Mihnea Mircan, Dietmar Offenhuber, Alex Schweder (conceptual contributions); Amila Smajović (consulting in pattern design)
Production: STILL-A Sarajevo (weaving)
Special thanks: Ibrahim and Munira Akšamija, Center for Islamic Architecture at the Rijaset Sarajevo, András J. Riedlmayer, kilim weavers
Also see: Azra Akšamija, Mosque Manifesto: Propositions for Spaces of Coexistence. Berlin: Revolver Publishing, 2015.