The work “Totenklage” was made in fall 2006 at the Krajina Identification Project (KIP) in Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herzegowina.

The KIP is one of the three forensic facilities of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). The ICMP was established in 1996 to secure the co-operation of governments and other authorities in locating and identifying persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, other hostilities or violations of human rights, and natural disasters. Through its assistance in excavations and examinations ICMP contributes to the detection of sites, the recovery and anthropological examination of mortal remains and the use of antemortem and postmortem records for forensic identification.

The mortuary facility in Sanski Most conducts human remains analysis (pathology and anthropology) and DNA sampling, and coordinates the identification process for cases from the Krajina, located in Northwestern Bosnia and Herzegowina. Postmortem examinations are combined with antemortem data, personal effects and DNA match reports, and results are coordinated with local identification authorities to return identified remains to their families. To facilitate the identification, clothes and accessories belonging to a victim are laid out on a body bag containing the remains. Relatives looking for a missing person walk along the lines of body bags and try to recognize some clothing as a first step of identification.

I worked with a medium-range camera, which was mounted on a tripod in a height of about 4 meters. I used negative films and available light only. During the work, I was supported by the staff of the KIP. They put the body bags under the tripod and occasionally, they re-draped the clothes on the bag.

For the work I needed a permission from the ICMP/KIP as well as from the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the prosecutor. On the photographs, no information about the fact findings or the person should be readable as the cases might be used at the international War Crimes Tribunal in Den Haag. Consequently, I blurred any relevant text. The hand-written words you can still find on the white body bags represent a common religious farewell greeting to honor the deceased person.

SACI Gallery
Studio Art Centers International
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