Evil Doesn't Live Here: Posters of the Bosnian War [Paperback]

Alina Boboc (Author), David Rohde (Author, Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2001

For most Americans and Europeans, the Bosnian War was played out in the brief, flickering images of television news. But another set of images, more permanent and more profound, played an active role in this war, molding public sentiment and calling attention to the plight of the Bosnian people. For three hellish years, Bosnians plastered the walls of their towns with messages of anger, frustration, desperation, resistance, and hope. These extraordinary images, the focus of this book, are juxtaposed with the hateful, divisive works of propaganda that served the most vicious practitioners of "ethnic cleansing." Evil Doesn't Live Here presents this visual battle to the rest of the world for the first time. Former Bosnian aid workers Daoud Sarhandi and Alina Boboc have gathered over 180 of the most dramatic wartime posters, largely created by Bosnian artists and graphic designers at the height of the war. Fascinating on both political and artistic levels, they provide a harrowing account of the war and put a human face on this seemingly incomprehensible conflict. David Rohde, author of the acclaimed Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica and winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Bosnian War, introduces this vivid and unforgettable collection, which will appeal as much to those interested in current affairs as designers and artists. A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to victims of the Bosnian War.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Much like the history of the Balkan Peninsula, this collection of poster art from the Bosnian war arouses an array of emotions and opinions: its treatment of the region's diversities is somewhat contradictory, and its attempt to communicate the ultimate truth behind the hatred that has consumed the region for so long is admirable but also cursory. While it should be noted that this collection is the first of its kind, it is also regrettable that the authors a British documentary film editor, a Romanian journalist, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times occasionally make stereotypical comments only a nonnative wouldn't take to heart. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the hazy introduction, where the causes of the war are oversimplified and the perpetrators of evil frequently referred to by their nationalities rather than extremist ideologies, thus encouraging the collectivization rather than the individualization of guilt. Politics aside, the posters, ranging from pure political propaganda to the desperate outbursts of innocent civilians, thankfully speak for themselves even when not written in English or in Latin script and the accompanying captions, although brief, supply relevant background information. Brought together in this way, these powerful examples of graphic art not only reveal two divergent sides of the human psyche but also remind us that the height of human creativity is often achieved under the most hostile circumstances. Mirela Roncevic, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A beautiful, terrifying book. Sarhandi's introduction provides one of the best overviews of the conflict's history to be found anywhere. -- Life During Wartime, by Laura Secor, LA Times Book Review, April 7, 2002

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Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568982682
• ISBN-13: 978-1568982687
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Pictorial, June 6, 2005

By 

N. P. Stathoulopoulos "nick9155" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Evil Doesn't Live Here: Posters of the Bosnian War (Paperback)

This is still the only book of its kind on the Bosnian War, a pictorial study of the propaganda posters used by all sides.

I agree with the above summary on the text, however. It doesn't do much for the book, and is thankfully spare. The intro is not very useful at all, but the pictures often speak for themselves needing only a few sentences after the basic details (year, etc). Posters range from ad-mocking pleas by artists and civilians while some is pure government PR, some of the cruder pictures evoking earlier 20th century wars. Some are printed in English to reach foreign powers while some are in Roman or Cyrillic to appeal to the homeland. Many are extremely creative and clever, using universal logos and symbols. Subjects for these single-frame calls-to-arm include the slaughter of a people and a plea for attention, the fear of Islam in Europe, the fear of a Croatian-Nazi state, the uselessness of the UN, etc, etc. There's a good cross-section of material as well and brief notes about the differents propaganda machines in each country.

Chilling to look at the posters and think about the carnage done in their name; the more aggression ones are even darker years later.