Ethnic distancing through aesthetics in Bosnia-Herzegovina : appraising the limits of art as a peacebuilding tool with a socio-psychological experiment

Zupančič, Rok (author), Kočan, Faris (author), Vuga Beršnak, Janja (author)

In this paper, we test a widely accepted assumption in literature, namely, that due to its universal(istic) and humanistic character aiming to transcend ethnic boundaries, art is an effective tool for overcoming inter-ethnic divisions, and further, that people consider art effective to this specific purpose. To test this assumption, we ran a socio-psychological experiment at different universities in Bosnia–Herzegovina. Students were asked to assess the aesthetic value of the selected art installation, but were given different names, surnames and city of the artist, since names and places tend to indicate ethnicity in Bosnia–Herzegovina. We hypothesized that the students would attach greater value to the work of an artist perceived to belong to their ethnic group than that of one thought to belong to another group. The results revealed that the artist's perceived ethnicity did not play a role in evaluating the value of the work presented. The findings demonstrate that the ‘the other’ in Bosnia–Herzegovina is not always perceived through an ethno-political lens as the literature often suggests. Furthermore, it found that art per se is not necessarily perceived as an effective tool for bridging inter-ethnic divides.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Bosnia and Herzegovina, peacebuilding, reconciliation, art, post-conflict societies, ethnic groups, ethnic relations
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: Str. 101-123
• Numbering: Vol. 21, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-136604
• UDC: 323.1(497.6)
• ISSN on article: 1468-3857
• DOI: 10.1080/14683857.2020.1867410
• COBISS.SI-ID: 45081091
• Publication date in RUL: 12.05.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of Southeast European & Black Sea studies
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1468-3857
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1573397

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: ohranjanje miru, sprava, etnične skupine, etnični odnosi, umetnost, Bosna in Hercegovina