Review: War Art Remembrance and Memory (WARM) Festival

Between July 8 and 13, the Post-Conflict Research Center (P-CRC) and WARM Foundation organized a dynamic event for men and women from all over the Balkan region and the world.  Over four days the Festival included six film premieres, two exhibition openings and ten educational events, panel sessions, and keynote speeches. Over the course of seven days, the WARM Academy brought together 25 students (17 of whom were women), artists, journalists, and media makers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Balkan region, and the rest of the world with the objective to establish a regional and international platform that uses art, journalism, memory, and academic research to educate young people, artists, scholars, civil society leaders, and the general public about contemporary conflict, conflict prevention, and mitigation, issues of remembrance, dealing with the past, and the use of art in (post)-conflict settings.

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“What makes WARM Academy unique, for me, is bringing young people from the region to network and discuss topics related to peace, conflict prevention and mitigation – topics that need to be a top priority for all countries in our region,” said one student from North Macedonia. Students are now working in pairs and groups to develop their own artistic, community projects and will be given the opportunity to showcase the work (photography, text, and video) created at the specialized website of the WARM Academy. In developing this work, participants have mentorship support from P-CRC and The WARM Foundation. Three projects will receive monetary grants to further develop their work and showcase it during the 7th WARM Festival in 2020. All participants are part of the WARM, P-CRC and VII Academy network of fellows and activists for the years to come.