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Painting Information 1) The Drums of War 1993 Oil on Panel, 183 x 122 cm Collection of the Artist 2) The Deadly Wars 1993 Oil on Panel, 213 x 244 cm Perth Museum and Art Gallery 3) Irma 1994-95 Oil on Panel, 213 x 244 cm Perth Museum and Art Gallery Collection of the Artist |
The Bosnian SuiteTHE BOSNIAN WAR, from 1992 to 1994 was the result of centuries of religious and ethnic tensions which erupted after Tito’s death. It occurred in an area which we considered to be almost European and it was shocking to think, while sipping a Bellini in Harry’s Bar in Venice, that just across the Adriatic genocide was once again occurring. No-one could have foreseen this almost fifty years ago when, at the end of the Second World War, the concentration camps were being liberated.
The tragedy unfolding through the media was there for all to witness and I was not alone in my distaste for the bumbling of the UN and NATO. This conflict, which resulted in the murder, rape and mutilation of so many Bosnian Muslims, could have been defused before it escalated out of control. Over two hundred thousand Bosnians were killed and several hundred thousand driven from their homes, many of which were then ransacked and destroyed. It would appear that there is still no effective international policy to deal with ethnic genocide, as witnessed in Rwanda, Kosovo and East Timor. |