Thirty years after the Dayton Accords, Bosnia-Herzegovina presents itself as a country rebuilt: facades renovated, heritage restored, Stari Most (the “Old Bridge”) rebuilt thanks to European funding. However, while the Old Bridge was presented as the instrument of “reconciliation” between communities, the East/West separation persists, and residents struggle to recognize the city they live in.
The reconstruction erased much of Mostar’s urban and social memory. Traditional cafes gave way to tourist terraces, socialist monuments were abandoned, and streets renamed. What defined Mostar – its industry, working-class culture, shaded gardens by the Neretva River – was sacrificed for tourism. With familiar places gone, an entire sociability mode disappeared.
This reconstruction was done without the population, resulting in a completely altered city demographic: 60% of current residents are not from Mostar. The city lost part of its population to ethnic cleansing and violence, while receiving displaced people from all over Herzegovina and a large influx of Bosnian Croats. This led to broken neighborhood ties and fixed identities, leaving the city polarized with invisible boundaries.
Mostar emerges as a prime example of externally imposed reconstruction, indifferent to social relations, traumas, and urban practices. It is a city where space has shrunk and where repair never took place.
What does Mostar reveal about the reconstruction deadlocks in Bosnia? Why don’t residents recognize their own city anymore? How has its functioning become dysfunctional? Lastly, what is the responsibility of local, national, and European authorities in the destruction of its memory?
Julie Gacon speaks with Aline Cateux.
Focus – The former National Library of Sarajevo, symbol of lost multiculturalism Destroyed by Serbian forces during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996, the former national and university library stored proof of the city’s multicultural history. Its slow reconstruction led to the replica of a building devoid of the collective memory it once held.
How does the failure of this reconstruction reflect the impossibility of returning to the multiculturalism that characterized Sarajevo?
To delve deeper, references are provided: – Residents of Mostar recount the day of the inauguration of the Old Bridge destroyed in 1993 and rebuilt in 2004. – An inhabitant of Mostar involved in the reconstruction of the Mostar Bridge. – A radio report on the confrontational ideological site of the Partisan cemetery in Mostar.
Additionally, there is a musical reference provided for further exploration.
