The bridge on the Neretva: Stari Most as a stage of memory in post-conflict Mostar, Bosnia–Herzegovina

Abstract

This article conceptualises the institutional narrative of the reconstruction of Stari Most (Old Bridge), regarded as an international symbol of reconciliation in Mostar, Bosnia–Herzegovina, as a staged reconciliation of the city. Constructed during Ottoman occupation Stari Most became a signifier of Mostar and was central to the growth of the city. Stari Most was destroyed in 1993 during the Bosnian war; restoration began five years following, and the bridge alongside Stari Grad (Old Town) was reopened as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage site in 2004. UNESCO began operating in 1945 on the grounds that ‘peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity’, based on a collaborative effort to celebrate diversity and innovation. In this article I conceptualise Stari Most as a stage of memory through identifying, firstly, the institutional staging of the reconstruction as a structure which ‘bridges’ divides, and secondly, the institutional narrative of the bridge as a symbolically reconciling structure, in a city which remains divided.