This year marked the 20th
anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords, an agreement reached on November 21,
1995. The agreement was made by the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia
to end the war in Bosnia and to create an outline a General Framework Agreement
for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is known as the Dayton Peace Accords
because negotiations happened at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
This
was an important move because brutal war over territory, power, and
independence was happening in the former Yugoslavia region in the 1990s. The
issue escalated when Croatia and Bosnia/ Herzegovina declared independence from
Yugoslavia. Ethnic Serbs retaliated against this with many attacks. Around the
same time Croats and Bosnian Muslims began fighting each other over territory.
There was so much conflict in the area with 100,000 people that died from this
war and 2 million forced to abandon their homes. Former president Bill Clinton
decided something needed to be done. Laying the final framework for peace talks
in Dayton was not easy, but it eventually happened and peace has endured in
Bosnia since.
This
year many events occurred in Dayton to celebrate the Peace Accord’s
anniversary. Former president Clinton visited the University of Dayton to be
the keynote speaker at a luncheon. Discussions and conferences all around
Dayton were scheduled to happen involving current and former world leaders. An
exhibition, Visions of Conflict took
place at the Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries at Wright State University that
presented photography of the issues, emotions, and effects of this war through
the work of Ziyah Gafic, Louie Palu, Jessica Hines, and Larry Price. Artist
talks occurred along with the exhibition opening in October highlighting Ziyah Gafic
and Louie Palu. Gafic lived in Bosnia during the conflict and photographed
items that were found in mass graves in the region in hopes of returning these
items to family members and loved ones of those who lost their lives. Palu did
photography in the region and areas of Africa that highlighted survivors of sex
trade and child labor.
The
Dayton community contributed a great deal when peace talks were being
negotiated. Locals of Dayton sent food to the negotiators on base, held peace
vigils, and displayed artwork done by local school children. The fact that the
peace talks happened in Dayton gave Daytonians great pride in being a part of
such a life altering event.
Ziyah Gafic, Quest for Identity series
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