shady light - 25 years of Dayton

Too many are still fighting the bosnian war

York Wegerhoff

In November 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement ended the bloody civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and manifested the nationalist war goals by dividing the country along ethnic and religious lines.

The first free elections cemented the balance of power from the war; since that time, every potentially positive change has been nipped in the bud. The serious consequences of this standstill and the lack of economic progress have led to massive emigration. Just as this population depletion is coming to a dramatic head, we see thousands of migrants stranded along the Balkan route on the EU’s outer border in Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding tension to an already fragile society. The country’s structural stalemate poses a serious challenge to the EU, which is called upon here to prove whether it has the requisite political will and strength to bring about the necessary positive change.

York Wegerhoff’s colour and black-and-white photographs are documentary in nature; together, they form a narrative picture of the current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.