Between 2021 and 2024, photographer Johanna Diehl travelled to Sarajevo several times to photograph places and spaces where exhibitions, theatre productions, film festivals and concerts took place in the 1990s. During the Bosnian war and the siege of the city, many of these sites served as media centres, among them the Hotel Holiday Inn and the BHRT Building (Bosnia & Herzegovina Radio & Television). Across her series Archipelagos of Resistance, Diehl photographs these scattered locations, which she describes as “archipelagos of resistance”; they enabled the world to witness life in the besieged city.
The book is published by Hartmann Books at 21 by 27.5 centimetres, with 160 pages and 145 illustrations, in a softcover edition designed by Stahl R, Berlin. It opens with an introduction by Sabina Klemm and includes texts by Elma Hodžić. Diehl is the photographer; Klemm and Hodžić are the contributors who provide the written framework. The project was created as part of an Ifa touring exhibition, and with this series and her previous work Diehl investigates the cultural identity of contemporary Europe.
Working from these places and spaces, Diehl’s pictures address the power and importance of cultural work, especially in war zones and times of crisis. The publisher notes that the book sheds light on the question of the life-affirming, vital importance of culture and art in times of budget cuts. The photographs were made in Sarajevo between 2021 and 2024.
