Sarajevo:
Letting the Story Unfold

In March 2020, we visited Sarajevo to pilot test and refine the elements of what would become The Sarajevo Process. The workshop ran for 1.5 days; during this time, we worked with participants from the City of Sarajevo and the Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency to build a story, capturing our shared experiences - drawing on our memories, and being in the moment together. What follows is a report of our work together, alongside key outputs, lessons and reflections.

Day 1: What has brought you here? (Memory Work)

Setting up the exercise: Leading up to the memory work exercise, a description of the activity was provided to all participants (via email). As part of the description, an example of a memory work text (written by the facilitator) was provided. Offering up an example of a personal memory was intended to create the conditions for trust, connection, and empathy to flourish.

• Format: The (group) exercise took place in the conference room of the Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency. Among ourselves we agreed that the exercise would run for 20-25 mins, after which, we would share our texts and reflect on the shared themes and meanings that arose. Participants each brought a photograph from there past, to use as the basis for their memory texts. The concept of memory as being something we carry in our bodies – as something from the past which we hold on to in the present, and which we carry with us into the future - was presented as a framing device for the exercise to allow for as wide interpretation as needed for participants to feel comfortable with this exercise. The freedom to interpret ‘what has brought you here’ in whatever way feels most true and meaningful allows for flexibility and empowers us all to select our own memory in time, in whatever time that is, as our own starting point.

• Reflection: The exercise began in quiet, in silence. At about the 5-10 minute mark, small chatter began amongst the participants from Sarajevo. They were speaking in their native language, although there were moments where the word ‘Sniper’ could be clearly understood. As the chatter continued, it became clear that the participants had started to tease each other, with the youngest in the group calling the others ‘old ladies’ (Note: the age span of the participants, from youngest to oldest was likely no more than 10-15 years). While the intention at the start of the activity was to complete the writing of the texts in silence, in time, the space created by this silenced allowed the group dynamic to shine through: here were people who cared for each other, who were comfortable with each other, who found joy and laughter in each others’ company. Humour played a powerful part in the success of this exercise; furthermore, it offered all of us a connection. Laughing together while writing together bonded us. Through humour, we became connected; humour’s role in creating connection, establishing intimacy is a valuable one, and for those of us participating, it helped to create the foundation for a really wonderful exchange - not just during the memory work exercise, but across the entire process.

• Outputs: The memory work texts shared by participants were deeply personal and meaningful. Each, in their own way, considered the war and, in that context, the role of nature in offering up space for hope, connection, healing, and beauty. Having a sense of community, being able to turn to nature to re-charge, and demonstrating capacity to thrive and be resilient where common threads that drew all the individual memories together, towards a collective shared experience. As one participant noted: [about her the community garden]: “This is not a short sad story about the war, deprivation and hunger , but opposite - a story that celebrates community gardens as perfect example of how a small piece of land and seeds can brighten life in times of horror.”

Day 2: Where is here / What does here mean? (Immersion in Nature, Eco-therapy, & Body-Mapping)

Setting up the exercise: Originally, we had planned to use a garden space that was part of the grounds of the Sarajevo Economic Regional Development Agency, to complete the immersion in nature, eco-therapy, and body-mapping elements. After the memory work exercise, one of the participants proposed moving our activities to the mountain [insert name], as it offered up a more engaging space for being in nature, and allowing us all to be in the present moment (a key aspect of this part of The Sarajevo Process). The change in location was agreed among the group; in changing the location, we had inadvertently added a new element to the process - “Walking with/in the City” - as well as a positive constraint.

• Walking with/in the City [New Element]: On our way to the mountain, where we would undertake the day’s activities, we took our time walking with and in the city of Sarajevo - stopping at key points along the way, to hear stories, to learn about the city, and to reflect on our experiences. Along the way, the we: passed the spot where the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated; we learned about ‘The House of Spite’; we took a moment, at the edges of one of the ‘Sarajevo Roses’ (an arts-based memorial for children who had died during the war) to reflect quietly; we listened as well looked on at the City Hall (re-built after being burned). Walking together, and taking the time to stop and reflect demonstrate an important part of the process - to build trust, and to foster connection takes time. In much the same way that flexibility of interpretation helps to frame an open and meaningful exchange during the memory work exercise, here, taking one’s time establishes the pace at which The Sarajevo Process unfolds. A further example of this - and importance of time, and pacing, is reflected in our experience of riding the cable care - our means of travelling up the mountain.

• Riding up the mountain - keeping pace with the cable car [A positive constraint]: The ride up the mountain via cable car was, it turned out to be another important element - preparing us for the day’s activities. We could only go up the mountain at the pace of the cable car; in this way, and reflecting back on the experience, the cable car is, it had become for us, a positive constraint; we found ourselves constrained by and to it; us, at pace with it, and it with us. In the time it took the cable car (and us) to reach the top of the mountain, stories passed between us. Participants from Sarajevo, drawing on their own memories and experiences, would point out particular things of interest to us, as we moved up the mountain – where there had been bunkers, and the positioning of snipers; peoples’ homes (many abandoned, some now being lived in again); the continued danger of walking up the mountainside - there were still mines there, undetonated, and every year, accidents happen). This was all shared in a matter-of-fact kind of way, and in between this, there was laughter, and good humour, all the way up the mountain.

• On the Mountain: When we arrived at the top of the mountain, we spent about an hour or so walking around. We climbed onto the bobsled infrastructure (from the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics) and followed its path, until it brought us back to our starting point. As had been the case in the city, and on the cable car, we spent moments talking and sharing - but, with this opportunity of being more in a natural space, there were also moments of quiet thought and contemplation. Each of us took in the world and space around us, noting where nature had begun to grow into the bobsled infrastructure. This time, and what we gathered from it, would be reflected back in the body-mapping exercise later on in the day.

 Body-Mapping

• Format: To complete the body maps, we returned to the offices of the Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency. We gathered tables around to give us space to spread out, but also, to be able to share the markers, colouring pencils, and other art supplies to colour in our body maps. Given the time we had all spent together, and the bonds this had fostered, very minimal instructions were required regarding how to complete the body maps. We agreed on a time (30 to 45 minutes) and from there, we all got to work, colouring in our maps.