Lie Down

Whilst doing research into forensic anthropology I became fascinated with its use in Bosnia to identify individuals within Mass Graves. This piece is a direct response to this research. ?Lie Down? is an exploration of the progression of the war in Bosnia. It is made from hundreds of torn strips of cotton and linen sheets and table cloths knotted together. During the beginning stages of the war in Bosnia, Muslim?s were expected to wear a white arm band and hang a white flag/sheet on their houses to show that they were Muslims. The top section of my piece is made from white strips of cloth. When segregating men from women, boys were selected and separated based on their height. Boys smaller than 150cm were allowed to remain with their mothers whilst those above 150cm had to leave with their fathers and were certainly sent to their death. My piece of work hangs at exactly 150cm. The lower section of the piece is naturally dyed in coffee. Coffee is a strong symbol of community in Bosnia. Before the war, Bosnian citizens would all drink coffee together whether Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim), Serb or Croat. After the war many Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslim) attempted to move back to their homes to find another family had moved in. They were often offered coffee in their own cups. The piece of work extends onto the floor referencing burial / mass graves / shrouds / death, and is titled ?Lie Down?, the last words spoken to many, before being shot. Forensic teams exhumed cloth ligatures and blindfolds across all of the mass grave sites at Srebrenica. These ligatures and blind folds were often from the same fabric source and this evidence was part of the proof for Genocide during the trials at The Hague. ?