|
Mostar, a city on the Neretva River, exemplifies the deep layering of cultures that is the Balkans, from its late Roman roots to its Ottoman flourishings. Running through the city, the Neretva served as an historic divide with Muslims to the east and Croats to the west. Yet Mostar could still boast at having become a melting pot as its architecture attests. Various styles were melded into one typical of the region. For these reasons, UNESCO designated Mostar a World Heritage Site. And for these same reasons it became one of the more symbolic battlegrounds of the 1992-95 civil war in Yugoslavia when, in November of 1993, the world watched in horror as Bosnian Croats turned their artillery on Mostar’s spectacular 16th century Ottoman bridge, destroying it completely. Instead of documenting the architectural restoration efforts that began in 1997, Zarevac has chosen to survey the state of Mostar’s psychological healing through brief interviews with several of its spirited residents.
 |
