Ziyah Gafić: Everyday objects, tragic histories

Translator: Lucia Fraga Reviewer: Alicia Ferreiro

These are simple objects:

Estes son obxectos simples:

clocks, keys, combs, glasses.

reloxos, chaves, peites, lentes

They are the things the victims of genocide in Bosnia

Son as cousas que as vítimas do xenocidio en Bosnia

carried with them on their final journey.

levaron na súa viaxe final.

We are all familiar with these mundane,

Todos estamos afeitos a estes obxectos

everyday objects.

mundanos e cotiáns

The fact that some of the victims carried

O feito de que algunhas vítimas

personal items such as toothpaste and a toothbrush

levaran obxectos persoais como a pasta ou o cepillo de dentes

is a clear sign they had no idea

é un sinal de que non tiñan idea

what was about to happen to them.

do que ía ocurrirlles.

Usually, they were told that they were going to be

Adoitaban dicirlles que serían intercambiados

exchanged for prisoners of war.

por prisioneiros de guerra

These items have been recovered

Estes obxectos recuperáronse

from numerous mass graves across my homeland,

de numerosas foxas comúns da miña terra

and as we speak, forensics are exhuming bodies

E, mentras falamos, os forenses exhuman corpos

from newly discovered mass graves,

das novas foxas comúns que se atopan

20 years after the war.

20 anos despois da guerra.

And it is quite possibly the largest ever discovered.

E son quizais os maiores descubertos

During the four years of conflict

Durante os catro anos do conflito

that devastated the Bosnian nation in the early '90s,

que desolou Bosnia a principios dos 90,

approximately 30,000 citizens, mainly civilians,

uns 30000 cidadáns, civís a maioría,

went missing, presumed killed,

desapareceron, seguramente asasinados

and another 100,000 were killed

e outros 100000 foron aniquilados

during combat operations.

durante as operacións de combate.

Most of them were killed

Os máis foron asasinados,

either in the early days of the war

ben nos primeiros días da guerra,

or towards the end of the hostilities,

ou ben cara a fin do conflito,

when U.N. safe zones like Srebrenica

cando as áreas seguras da ONU como Srebrenica

fell into the hands of the Serb army.

caeron en mans do exército serbio.

The international criminal tribunal

O tribunal penal internacional

delivered a number of sentences

ditou sentencias

for crimes against humanity and genocide.

por crimes contra a humanidade e xenocidio

Genocide is a systematic and deliberate

Xenocidio é a destrución sistemática

destruction of a racial, political, religious

e deliberada dun grupo étnico,

or ethnic group.

político, relixioso e racial

As much as genocide is about killing.

O xenocicio é tanto a matanza

It is also about destroying their property,

como a destrución da propiedade,

their cultural heritage,

da herdanza cultural,

and ultimately the very notion that they ever existed.

e básicamente de calquera sinal da súa existencia

Genocide is not only about the killing;

O xenocidio non é só a matanza;

it is about the denied identity.

é a negación da identidade

There are always traces —

Sempre hai pistas,

no such thing as a perfect crime.

non hai crime perfecto

There are always remnants of the perished ones

Sempre quedan remanentes dos aniquilados

that are more durable than their fragile bodies

que duran máis que os seus corpos fráxiles

and our selective and fading memory of them.

ou que a nosa selectiva e débil memoria.

These items are recovered

Estes obxectos recupéranse

from numerous mass graves,

de moitas foxas comúns

and the main goal of this collection of the items

e o obxectivo da recolecta de obxectos

is a unique process

é un proceso único

of identifying those who disappeared in the killings,

de identificación dos que desapareceron

the first act of genocide on European soil

no primeiro acto de xenocidio en Europa

since the Holocaust.

dende o Holocausto

Not a single body should remain undiscovered

Ningún corpo debería quedar sen descubrir

or unidentified.

ou sen identidicar

Once recovered,

Unha vez se recuperan

these items that the victims carried with them

estes obxectos que as vítimas levaban

on their way to execution

camiño á súa execución

are carefully cleaned, analyzed,

límpanse, analízanse

catalogued and stored.

catalóganse e almacénanse

Thousands of artifacts are packed in white plastic bags

Miles deles métense en bolsas de plástico

just like the ones you see on CSI.

como as que vedes en CSI

These objects are used as a forensic tool

Úsanse como ferramentas forenses

in visual identification of the victims,

na identificación visual de vítimas

but they are also used as very valuable forensic evidence

pero tamén como probas valiosoas

in the ongoing war crimes trials.

nos xuizos de guerra

Survivors are occasionally called

Ás veces chámase a supervivintes

to try to identify these items physically,

para identificalos físicamente

but physical browsing is extremely difficult,

pero o recoñecemento visual é un proceso difícil,

an ineffective and painful process.

inefectivo e doloroso

Once the forensics and doctors and lawyers

Unha vez que forenses, médicos e avogados

are done with these objects,

acaban con eles

they become orphans of the narrative.

pasan a ser orfos da narrativa

Many of them get destroyed, believe it or not,

Moitos destrúense, aínda que non o crean

or they get simply shelved,

ou simplemente aplílanse

out of sight and out of mind.

fóra da vista e da mente

I decided a few years ago

Hai uns anos decidín

to photograph every single exhumed item

fotografiar cada obxecto exhumado

in order to create a visual archive

para crear un sinxelo arquivo visual

that survivors could easily browse.

que os supervivintes manexasen

As a storyteller, I like to give back to the community.

Como narrador, gústame dar aos demais,

I like to move beyond raising awareness.

gústame promover a sensibilización

And in this case, someone may

e neste caso, alguñen pode

recognize these items

recoñecer os obxectos

or at least their photographs will remain

ou polo menos que as fotos quedan

as a permanent, unbiased and accurate reminder

como recordo permanente, fiel e imparcial

of what happened.

do que ocorreu.

Photography is about empathy,

A fotografía é empatía

and the familiarity of these items guarantee empathy.

e a familiaridade destes obxectos garantízaa.

In this case, I am merely a tool,

Neste caso, eu son só unha ferramenta,

a forensic, if you like,

un forense, se queredes,

and the result is a photography that is as close

e o resultado é o máis parecido

as possible of being a document.

posíbel a un documento

Once all the missing persons are identified,

Cando se identifique aos desaparecidos

only decaying bodies in their graves

so quedarán os corpos descompoñéndose

and these everyday items will remain.

e estes obxectos cotiáns

In all their simplicity,

En toda a súa simplicidade

these items are the last testament

Estes obxectos son o testamento

to the identity of the victims,

para a identidade das vítimas

the last permanent reminder

o último recordatorio

that these people ever existed.

de que esas persoas existiron

Thank you very much.

Moitas grazas

(Applause)

(Aplausos)