Art and Reconciliation: The History and Practice of Foto Depo - the Photographic Archive of the History Museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina

This project will develop an innovative, creative and equitable partnership between the History Museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina in Sarajevo and King’s College London, building on previous AHRC-GCRF peacebuilding-evaluation projects. It is co-designed with the Museum and UNDP to respond to the Museum’s need to investigate, interpret and catalogue its previously unresearched photographic archive and laboratory — the Foto Depo. The research will produce the first history of the Foto Depo, integrated with an exploration of the Museum’s role as a ‘living museum’, including ‘open call’ commissions, workshops and participatory-community engagement activities and a temporary exhibition. This ground-breaking new research also permits further research on evaluation methods and approaches to reconciliation, developed in previous partnership projects. Research will benefit funders, including research co-designer UNDP. The project addresses the call’s conflict, reconciliation and fragility theme, benefiting individuals and communities in Bosnia, in relation to UN SDGs 4, 8, 11 and 12.

Professor AJW Gow, King's College London; Mrs Elma Hašimbegović, History Museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina; Dr Rachel Clare Kerr, King's College London