The bridge on the Neretva: Stari Most as a stage of memory in post-conflict Mostar, Bosnia–Herzegovina
| Author | Susan Forde |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0010836716652430 |
| Published date | 01 December 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Cooperation and Conflict
2016, Vol. 51(4) 467 –483
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0010836716652430
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The bridge on the Neretva:
Stari Most as a stage of
memory in post-conflict
Mostar, Bosnia–Herzegovina
Susan Forde
Abstract
This article conceptualises the institutional narrative of the reconstruction of Stari Most (Old
Bridge), regarded as an international symbol of reconciliation in Mostar, Bosnia–Herzegovina, as
a staged reconciliation of the city. Constructed during Ottoman occupation Stari Most became
a signifier of Mostar and was central to the growth of the city. Stari Most was destroyed in
1993 during the Bosnian war; restoration began five years following, and the bridge alongside
Stari Grad (Old Town) was reopened as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) heritage site in 2004. UNESCO began operating in 1945 on the grounds
that ‘peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity’, based
on a collaborative effort to celebrate diversity and innovation. In this article I conceptualise Stari
Most as a stage of memory through identifying, firstly, the institutional staging of the reconstruction
as a structure which ‘bridges’ divides, and secondly, the institutional narrative of the bridge as a
symbolically reconciling structure, in a city which remains divided.
Keywords
Bosnia–Herzegovina, conflict transformation, Mostar, post conflict, stage of memory, Stari Most
Introduction
The title of this article parodies Ivo Andrić’s novel The Bridge on the Drina (1945).
Andrić’s work of fiction is centred on the lives and stories of the people who lived
around and interacted with the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad over the
course of 400 years. The stage of Andrić’s novel is one of five bridges on the UNESCO
Heritage List (UNESCO, 2015b). Two of the five bridges on the UNESCO list are
located in Bosnia–Herzegovina; the other bridge, Stari Most in Mostar, is the focus of
Corresponding author:
Susan Forde, Department of History and Politics, Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park, Liverpool L16 9JD,
UK.
Email: fordes@hope.ac.uk
652430CAC0010.1177/0010836716652430Cooperation and ConflictForde
research-article2016
Article
468 Cooperation and Conflict 51(4)
this article (UNESCO, 2015b). Through the completion of the reconstruction, Stari
Most (Old Bridge) and the surrounding area Stari Grad (Old Town) became an interna-
tionally certified UNESCO World Heritage Site and was regarded as a ‘symbol of rec-
onciliation’ (UNESCO, 2005a: 1). Though the original and reconstructed Stari Most are
both important structures for the growth of the city of Mostar (in terms of infrastructure
originally, but also with respect to tourism) it is identifiable that the replication of the
Ottoman construction provides a space of renovation not reconciliation.
The research for this article was conducted through ethnographic observations regard-
ing the use of Stari Most and participant-produced ‘mind maps’ or rough maps of social
movement, accompanied by narrative interviews with some participants additionally
providing answers to follow-up questions (Sulsters, 2005: 1). This research locates the
reconstruction of Stari Most as a staged reconciliation of the city and theoretically
reflects on the work of Till (1999) ‘Staging the past’, Nora (1989) ‘sites of memory’, and
extends Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical theory to conceptualise Stari Most as a stage of
memory. The term ‘stage of memory’ will be applied to Stari Most to reflect the interna-
tional consumption and also the performativity of the institutionally directed narrative of
the bridge. The term ‘re-scripting’ will be used to refer to the social meaning that is
inscribed in space through social movement and use.
Empirically, this article sets out the institutional historical and contemporary staging
(physical transformation through deliberate damage, restoration) of Stari Most, com-
paratively outlining the local scripting (symbolic transformation through social usage) of
the bridge. Additionally, this article identifies local actors in the city of Mostar in outlin-
ing the local scripting of a space for reconciliation in the establishment of the youth
cultural centre Omladinski Kulturni Centar (OKC) Abrašević. Both of the spaces can be
contextualised as spaces of peace, with Stari Most regarded by UNESCO (2005a: 1) as a
‘symbol of reconciliation’, while OKC Abrašević is noted as existing as a space in
Mostar ‘that is open to everyone’ (Kappler, 2014: 174). However, the two sites are staged
and scripted in different ways and represent the complex negotiation of space by local,
national and international actors which occurs in post-conflict cities. Through the analy-
sis of these two spaces and how they engage, and are engaged with, in the city of Mostar,
this article puts forward the importance of local involvement in the process of transform-
ing post-conflict space, beyond formalised stages of memory.
Though this article reflects on one example of the reconstruction of cultural heritage in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, the dimensions of how actors negotiate destruction and reconstruction
of cultural heritage is of a growing importance due to the targeting of cultural sites by the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The widespread cultural destruction instigated
by ISIL has led to the establishment of the UNESCO-directed ‘Emergency Safeguarding of
the Syrian Cultural Heritage’, a technical assistance project, and also ‘Unite4Heritage’ a
social media campaign launched to raise awareness of the importance of protecting cultural
heritage (UNESCO, 2015d: 1; Unite4Heritage, 2015). In this it is important to mark the
growing relevance of the topic and to identify post-conflict responses to the reconstruction
of cultural heritage and also the reconciliation of urban spaces. Turning now to outline the
process whereby memory can be regarded as staged, the next section will identify the
dynamics of how stages of memory are constructed and exist in physical space.
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