The Croatian embassy in London is organising a panel event, “Where are our loved ones?” on the occasion of a new exhibition, “Behind The Sky: A Tribute to Missing Persons from the Croatian Homeland War”, which will be held on March 25 in London.
The exhibition by independent artist Gordana Špoljar Andrašić honors the memory of victims and missing persons from Croatia’s 1990s war of independence.
Through a combination of portraits, fragile materials and symbolic textures, the works reflect on the tragedy of war, the unresolved fates of the missing persons and the enduring pain of their families.
A panel discussion will be moderated by BIRN editor Marcus Tanner who was The Independent newspaper’s Balkans correspondent from 1988 to 1994. He has worked full-time for Balkan Insight since 2006.
Yale University Press published several of his books on subjects ranging from Ireland and the Celts to Renaissance Hungary and Croatia – Croatia, a Nation Forged in War.
“It’s very exciting to have such a high-level panel, including two Croatian foreign ministers, one past, one present, and the well-known British historian Robin Harris whose new book on Croatia is about to be published. I covered the fall of Vukovar for The Independent and so feel a real attachment to the terrible events that happened there,” Tanner said.
In addition to Robin Harris, historian, author, journalist and advisor to former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the roundtable speakers will be former Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic, current Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman and Ana Filko, from the Croatian Directorate for detained and missing persons.
Croatia is still searching for 1,788 missing and deceased persons from the war in the 1990s whose burial sites remain unknown. Their families live in constant uncertainty, awaiting answers about the fate of their loved ones.