An Update from the Bosnia Memory Project

As you know, the Bosnia Memory Project is dedicated to promoting understanding of the Bosnian diaspora and to establishing an enduring record of Bosnian genocide survivors, especially those living in metropolitan St. Louis area.  Over the past year and half, the BMP has seen many successes.

• In April 2013, we co-hosted Being Bosnian, a public symposium that featured presentations by Esad Boškailo, Amila Buturović, Aleksandar Hemon, Refik Hodzić, and Patrick McCarthy.
• In May 2013, we received a FOCUS St. Louis award for Improving Racial Equality and Social Justice.
• In March 2014, we collaborated with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to present a multi-media performance combining Bosnian sevdah music with selections from our oral histories.  More than 600 people attended.
• In October 2014, Kemal Pervanić gave a stirring presentation about his new documentary, Pretty Village.
• Bosnian-American students at Affton High School in St. Louis have now joined our effort to collect oral histories for the BMP’s permanent collections.
• The traveling exhibit Prijedor: Lives from the Bosnian Genocide has been shown in nineteen locations in Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Texas, and Iowa.  (The exhibit was produced collaboratively with the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, the Union of Citizens of the Municipality of Prijedor, Patrick McCarthy, Barbara Nwacha, and others.)

If we are to extend our reach and raise the quality of the BMP’s activities, we need your support. Your donation will go towards stipends for younger Bosnians who assist with translating our oral histories; travel expenses and honoraria for guest speakers (all of our events are free and open to the public); upkeep of our traveling exhibit about genocide in Prijedor; and equipment for our ongoing oral history project, including video cameras, hard drives, and secure storage cabinets. 100% of your donation will go directly to support our research, educational, and outreach activities. Your donation is fully tax deductible.  You can give by visiting our giving page.   You can also give by visiting the BMP’s webpage (scroll down). Every year, I become more aware that the BMP is not simply an educational and historical preservation effort.  It is also an effort to develop intercultural understanding and to promote the success of Bosnian-Americans of all backgrounds and ages.  We must never forget that the perpetrators of genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina sought to destroy not only people but also collective memory and multiethnic culture.   I know that with your support, the work that we are doing will benefit students, researchers, and the larger community for years to come. Sincerely, Benjamin Moore, Ph.D. Director of the Bosnia Memory Project [email protected] / 314-889-4553