One of my students referred to the graffiti here as street art. A faculty member called it scratching. After a few months here, I stopped noticing it. There is graffitti on war ruins, and on new buildings. There is even a beautiful tag of the University of Mostar’s name on the auditorium building. But the point of photography is to learn to see new, and to show new what might otherwise be missed. So, I went for a walk with my camera on a cold, windy but sunny Sunday.
Red Army 81 appears in many places here on the east side. This tag belongs to the east side football team, Velez, and refers to the team in its heyday. Now, the team is established on the east side, in a smaller stadium.
This is one I spotted near my house. This is painted on a war damaged building, which stands next to an apartment building, one of the concrete blocks. It is tucked away as are so many sites here. Every time that I think I have exhausted Mostar, I find a new site, a new building, a new cultural object to study.
Or I see an odd but symbolic object like this umbrella discarded in the street.
And of course, the sign warning of dangerous ruin.
This was posted on a alley that had featured a rehabbed stone street, and houses. I was curious and wondered where this ruin was. I walked to the end to find a stray cat contemplating his life, next to a dropoff to the river. The ruin was the end of the street, a bombed out site.
And while not graffiti, these signs are placed in the old city to remind people of the destruction of the Stari Most in 1993: this is the most effective sign of all.
Amy in Mostar 