War Childhood Museum

The War Childhood Museum (Bosnian: Muzej ratnog djetinjstva) is a historical museum in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina that opened in January 2017. The museum presents the experiences of children who lived through the war in Bosnia, told through objects, video testimonies, and excerpts from oral histories. The 2018 Council of Europe Museum Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the museum industry, was awarded to the War Childhood Museum as part of the 2018 European Museum of the Year Award.[1][2]

War Childhood Museum
Established2017
LocationLogavina 32, Sarajevo
Coordinates43°51′42″N 18°25′42″E
TypeHistory museum
FounderJasminko Halilovic
Websitemuseum.warchildhood.com

The project began in 2010 when Jasminko Halilovic, a Sarajevan entrepreneur, activist, and “war child,” used an online platform to collect short recollections of young adults who had been children during the Bosnian war. Over 1,000 young adults submitted their memories. Halilovic assembled these recollections into a book which was published in 2013. The book has subsequently been translated into German and Japanese.[3]

As Halilovic began corresponding with the young adults who submitted memories, he realized that many of the former “war children” still had specific objects that they connected with their memories.[4] He began working with a team of other young professionals to develop a museum collection, eventually collecting over 3,000 objects and over 60 oral history testimonies.[5]

In May 2016, the War Childhood Museum held its first, temporary exhibition at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[6] Further exhibitions followed in the cities of Zenica and Visoko.[7] In January 2017, the museum’s permanent exhibition opened on Logavina Street in Sarajevo.

The museum’s collections feature diaries, toys, photographs, items of clothing, and a variety of other objects donated by war survivors.[8] All the items are presented alongside first-person recollections from the individual who donated them. In addition to the items, visitors can listen to testimonies and read snippets from oral history interviews.[9]

References
  1. "Council of Europe Museum Prize 2018". European Museum Forum. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. "War Childhood Museum, Sarajevo, wins 2018 Museum Prize". European Museum Forum. January 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  3. Sheehan, Dan (December 2015). "Jasminko Halilovic: Children of War". Guernica Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  4. Toe, Rodolfo (May 11, 2016). "Sarajevo Museum to Preserve Wartime Childhood Memories". Balkan Transitional Justice. Balkan Insight.
  5. Rose, Eleanor (January 1, 2017). "Bosnia's War Childhood Museum Finally Opens". Balkan Transitional Justice. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  6. Toe, Rodolfo. "Sarajevo Museum to Preserve Wartime Childhood Memories". Balkan Transitional Justice. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  7. Ruvic, Dado (July 8, 2016). "Bosnian museum of wartime childhood helps heal trauma". Reuters. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  8. "War Childhood Museum". 2015–2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. Rose, Eleanor (January 30, 2017). "Bosnia's War Childhood Museum Finally Opens". Balkan Transitional Justice. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
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