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.

Fallen Angel explores the emergence of the war souvenirs produced by Bosnian craftspeople who transform artillery shells into vases. Unexpectedly, many people have found that these vases help them deal with their own personal war experiences, perhaps by transforming the reminders of death and destruction into harmless everyday objects. By creating objects that materially consume memory, they have contributed to the development of war tourism, a controversial but powerful force in the Bosnian economy today. I relate these souvenirs to the destroyed building of the newspaper Oslobođenje (Freedom), also known as the “Fallen Angel”–one example of the ongoing urbicide in Sarajevo.

This project poses questions about what constitutes a monument. The Bosnian war souvenirs used the language of war, but overwrite it with an object of domestic peace. Yet, these monuments for mass consumption still embody human emotions and personal memories of war. This monument is not a permanent edifice. Similarly, by merging patterns of national identity with patterns of destruction, derived from a photograph of the ruin of Oslobođenje, my project appropriated the design and production of new Bosnian war souvenirs in wood, metal, and textile. I designed abstract patterns based on the ruin. I gave these patterns to the craftspeople in Sarajevo to produce new war souvenirs used for the traditional coffee drinking ritual: Ottoman furniture, dishes, and stitched tablecloths. In addition, I designed business cards aimed to support the hand craftspeople financially, helping preserve the traditional craft, which remains an important but disappearing component of the Bosnian cultural heritage.

Concept and artistic direction: Azra Akšamija
Production: David Rh.se (graphics), Drina Karahasanović (project management), Sakib Bašcauševic (metal souvenirs), Bedra
Izetbegovic (textile souvenirs), Sejo Sejfudin Vila (wood souvenirs)
Special thanks: Nadja Akšamija, David Rhoese
Also see: Akšamija, Azra, “The Fallen Angel: The building of ‘Oslobođenje’ in the context of post-war reconstruction of Bosnia
and Herzegovina,” Arterlier: Contemporary Art Magazine, no. 8 (2003): 146–154.

Photograph, wall text, 7 designed souvenirs
Project commissioned by the Gallery for Contemporary Art Leipzig for the group exhibition Introducing Sites / Cultural Territories (2003), curated by Ilina Koralova.
Materials: photograph on wallpaper, vinyl cut, patterns design, 2 wooden tables and 1 tablet, metal and ceramic coffee set,
embroidered napkins
Dimensions: Wallpaper: variable; wooden tables: 30 x 30 x 50 cm; tablet: 20 x 40 x 2 cm; coffee set 20 x 20 x 5 cm