How do you make a home away from home? How do you leave one place and settle in another? These are the questions that the Moj Dom project—meaning ‘My Home’— addresses. It’s been 30 years since the wars that led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and the way people remember these wars, the migrations, and the emotions tied to them still shape lives, relationships, and policies in many territories today.
Moj Dom explores the different interpretations of the Yugoslav Wars, focusing on the challenges that arise from the erasure or instrumentalisation of memories. The goal is to spark collective reflections on how a traumatic event impacts the sense of home for those forced to migrate.
The partners conducted hundreds of encounters, primarily in-depth interviews, to gather personal stories and experiences related to the sense of home and displacement. They also employed other collection tools, such as focus groups, public events, images and soundscapes, artistic presentations, and workshops in schools, universities, and non-formal education centres.
Many people were met, each with their own unique story. Among them were individuals who lived through the wars that accompanied the dissolution of Yugoslavia and who, as a result, were forced to emigrate to other regions or countries, leaving their homes behind. We also connected with their family members, including those who were children in the 1990s or young people born in the newly formed states. Encounters extended to members of the host communities and the activist scene, both from the 1990s and today, as well as experts from various artistic, historical, social, and cultural fields. Special attention was given to engaging with university and high school students and educational centres.
Drawing from the findings, an educational toolkit has been developed and tested for schools to help students understand the complex historical, social, and political processes involved. This toolkit is crucial in promoting inclusive identities and ensuring that young people understand peace and coexistence.
In Italy, four collection days were organised. These were public events at which members of the diaspora or groups that welcomed people fleeing the wars in the former Yugoslavia were asked to bring an object associated with the sense of home. All the collected objects, stories, and memories became a significant part of a photography exhibition.
The artistic reinterpretation of the collected testimonies and materials is crucial to the project. In addition to the photo exhibition, this includes a monograph on how those who lost their homes have expressed their displacement through art, a short film, and an original theatre performance based on the collected testimonies.
Moj Dom: Refugees, migration, and erased memories in the aftermath of the Yugoslav wars is a European-scale project funded by the CERV Remembrance program of EACEA.
Partnership
Codici – leading partner
An independent organisation based in Milan (Italy) promoting research and transformation initiatives in the social field. It supports organisations, institutions and networks in understanding and accompanying social changes. The actions it proposes and the languages it experiments with arise from the desire to give words and power back to the people.
Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past
Founded in Zagreb (Croatia), Documenta contributes to developing individual and social processes of dealing with the past to build sustainable peace in Croatia and the former Yugoslav region. It aims to deepen the dialogue and initiate a public debate on policies that encourage dealing with the past, such as collecting data and publishing research on war events, war crimes, and human rights violations.
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research (IEF)
A centre for ethnological, cultural-anthropological, folkloristic, ethnomusicological, and related scientific research based in Zagreb (Croatia). The institute has a strong research background in war ethnography, which recently led to the creation of the long-track program “Legacy of the Nineties: Discourses and Everyday Life,” dedicated to research and public knowledge dissemination.
The Institute for Social Research in Zagreb (ISRZ)
A public research institute based in Zagreb (Croatia). ISRZ conducts fundamental, applied, and developmental policy research in sociology, social sciences, and humanities. ISRZ advocates for implementing its research findings in public scientific, educational and social policies by collaborating with competent ministries, governmental agencies, governmental bodies, educational institutions and civil society organisations.
Lapsus is a non-profit organisation based in Milan (Italy) focusing on contemporary history research, educational activities, and public history. It develops projects with students and young people of any educational level, promoting an active learning methodology. Lapsus has also carried out history-harvesting initiatives, exhibitions, theatrical shows, documentaries, and oral history projects across Europe.
It is a non-profit organisation based in Ljubljana (Slovenia), internationally renowned for producing socially and politically engaged theatre. It publishes a performing arts journal in three double, bilingual, annual issues, each dedicated to a specific topic. Maska’s Seminar for Contemporary Performing Arts is an all-year-round program of lectures by internationally acclaimed scholars, artists and writers.
Based in Ljubljana, it is an independent research institution dedicated to contemporary social and political studies and interdisciplinary research in sociology, political science, anthropology, and law. The institute’s activities are not limited to critical assessment of social phenomena but also include active intervention. It combines academic research with policy-oriented activities.
The Department of Southeast European History and Anthropology is Austria’s primary academic hub for studying the Balkan region’s history and culture. Research areas include historical anthropology of the Balkans, intercultural comparisons, and the social dynamics of gender. Additionally, it investigates themes such as tradition versus modernity, social structures, migration, and the origins of ethno-nationalism in the former Yugoslavia.
Since 2017, the University has established the Center for International and Transnational Area Studies (CITAS), a platform for bringing together various disciplines and area studies. The University focuses particularly on Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
