Join ISHR as 2012 Advocate Kemal Pervanic discusses his peace building work in Bosnia with Bukeni Waruzi, the ED of Free the Slaves.
2012 Advocate Kemal Pervanic is the founder of Most Mira (Bridge of Peace), an NGO dedicated to peace building in northwestern Bosnia. A survivor of the notoriously brutal Omarska concentration camp during the Bosnian War, Kemal witnessed horrific acts of genocide, some of which were perpetrated by individuals whom he knew personally–including one of his secondary school teachers. When the war ended, he was relocated to London. Ten years later, Kemal returned to Bosnia where he was alarmed to find misrepresentations of what had transpired in the former Yugoslavia. Determined to steer the youth away from a future of division and hate, Kemal founded Most Mira to bring children of different ethnic backgrounds together through the arts.
Kemal is also a filmmaker and author. He is currently working on his second documentary film. His first, Pretty Village, examines the effect of the Bosnian War on the residents of his village, Kevljani. Kemal also chronicled his wartime experience in the book The Killing Days: My Journey Through the Bosnian War, published in 1999.
*Please note that this event is limited to Columbia University affiliates.
