* Tradition at work against oblivion *

The Srebrenica Memorial Quilt is made of individual panels, each of which commemorates a victim of the genocide in Srebrenica in 1995. A small panel (40x40 cm) is woven for one missing person.  Each panel contains a unique design and the name of the individual. The panels are then woven together, creating a large carpet.

To the victims, we owe commemoration, to the victims’ families- justice.

THE SREBRENICA MEMORIAL QUILT – Carpets to commemorate the victims of the Srebrenica genocide

ABOUT PROJECT
In its work with women war victims within the „Bosnian tradition, beauty and work“ project, Bosfam initiated carpet weaving as a means of occupational therapy. Any mother whose underage son went missing during the fall of Srebrenica always highlights that only weaving a carpet can help her „cope with her own misery...“. She is one of the many who seek comfort in „dealing with threads and playing with colours...“ Bosfam decided to create a Carpet of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide Victims.

A small carpet, 40x40 cm, is woven for one missing person, in different colours and with different patterns, and contains the name of the person. The panels are then merged together creating a large carpet. Bosfam women started the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt project by commemorating 20 victims of the genocide on 20 panels. The project has grown fast, and Bosfam will have created 15 Memorial Quilts by the 15th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in July 2010. The Memorial Quilts have attracted much attention and continue to travel around the world raising awareness of the tragedy in Srebrenica and making sure that another Srebrenica will not happen anywhere in the world. 

WHAT IS THE MEMORIAL QUILT?
The Memorial Quilts are composed of individual panels, each of which commemorates a victim of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The Quilts not only honor the dead, but also serve as an advocacy tool to keep the memory of the massacre alive.

WHO LAUNCHED THIS INITIATIVE ?
The memorial quilt project was launched by the Bosnian Family - Bosfam, a women’s organization  which represents women  who were displaced by the Bosnian war. Many of Bosfam’s members lost relatives in the Srebrenica genocide.

WHO MAKES THE PANELS?
The panels are woven by members of Bosfam, women who lost their relatives in the Srebrenica massacre. Bosfam weavers are always willing to weave new panels for other families.

WHOM DOES THE QUILT COMMEMORATE?
The quilt is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Srebrenica genocide, in July 1995.

WHY A CARPET?
A carpet is the lasting value of our rooms, and as much as someone might wish it to disappear – it exists, subsists and is of lasting value... A carpet is woven with love; threads, patterns and colours are interwoven in large number to make a whole – like the large number of destinies of our dearest that merged – the destiny of the genocide victims... A carpet always recalls the warmth of the home and the family and shall always and in all places recall the members of our families who perished in the genocide – they shall be remembered.

OUR WISH IS:
to make quilts in the memory of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide (woven in the traditional way by the hands of hard-working Bosnian women), to add more and more names of the victims to create a permanent remembrance of the genocide, and to make sure that there will be never again, nowhere and for no one another SREBRENICA.