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Evil Doesn’t Live Here: Posters of the Bosnian War
Book Reviews
Author Daoud Sarhandi and Alina Boboc showcase a number of posters collected during and after the Bosnian War. Evil Doesn’t Live Here is a testament to the power of design as a tool of persuasion and influence amid nationalistic struggles and quests for power. Evil Doesn’t Live Here walks the reader through visualizations that are cryptic, haunting, and even humorous with historical accounts and English translation. While one might expect this book to act as a summation of the Bosnian War and all its atrocities, the reader will be most impressed with the comprehensive collection of posters and the trouble the authors went through to accommodate some of them. Ultimately, Evil Doesn’t Live Here serves as a looking glass into a brief moment of time and appeals to those fond of raw design aesthetics. So many of the posters had to be made in short periods of time with limited means and it’s a wonder how any of the designs made their way to the street—especially amid the turmoil. The book is valuable because it introduces new work from unknown people, who made an impact during a moment in time that few committed to memory.


Book Information
Evil Doesn’t Live Here: Posters of the Bosnian War
Daoud Sarhandi and Alina Boboc, foreward by David Rohde
194 pages Softcover
10.0 x 8.0 x 0.7 inches
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 1568982682
By Jason A. Tselentis on Aug.11.2005 Link

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Pesky Illustrator’s comment is:

Jason, good post. The courage and passion of these designers to make posters under the horrific conditions of the ethnic war in that part of the world is admirable. Once I met a woman who lived thru that genocide and it was a sad and haunting experience talking to her. Maybe this book with be a visual landmark of the tragedy of ethnic conflict. The unfathonable brutality. Both sides wishing for some understanding and recognition of their point of view. That's what makes impactful posters: A passionate point of view. Thanks.

On Aug.11.2005 at 08:53 PM

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Cameron’s comment is:

Daoud was one of the speakers at a conference I attended last year (AGIdeas in Melbourne, Australia). He spoke about the creation of the book, and the posters within it. Amazing stories of dedication by the artists. Very inspirational.

On Aug.11.2005 at 11:56 PM

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pnk’s comment is:

For another highly visual and strongly recommended take on the subject of the Bosnian war, check out Joe Sacco's excellent Safe Area Gorazde.

On Aug.12.2005 at 11:58 AM

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gregor’s comment is:

Nice post Jason. Further along these lines, the May/June 2005 issue of Print has an excellent article on Skart - a group of designers, artists and performers who's work, primarily self-financed, packed a powerful message.

This type of work, such as that produced by Skart, hasn't been seen much within the US over the past couple of decades, but once did have a substancial amount of activity in the major metropolitan areas such as NYC and the Bay Area, in addition to university cities. Often this was a loosely based hybrid of Situationist detournement and John Heartfield style Dadaesque photomontage posters, pamphlets and manifestos.

Having seen much of this work, it was, oddly enough, some of the best design I've seen. Some was done by professionals as a side interest, but much more was done by amateurs who were driven by the commitment, nee obsession, that drove the work and it was filled with passion.

Much is the case with the material in Evil Doesn’t Live Here and the work of Skart - passion and commitment in place of training and credentials created works of surprising innovation, beauty and powerful messaging.

On Aug.12.2005 at 09:25 PM

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Jason Tselentis’s comment is:

These posters and communications are driven by passion, and what makes the book a success is the high degree of background the authors give. Like the Korean War, the Bosnian War continues to be a conflict that few dedicate conversation and research to. WWII and Vietnam get discussed more in American culture, but hopefully this book (and others) will make an impact in the attention given to the Bosnian War. It's refreshing to see a design book lead the way in such a mission.

On Aug.14.2005 at 11:05 AM

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dinash’s comment is:

i'm suprised this book did not get mentioned in sarajevo or elsewhere in bosnia. i had an unique opportunity to live through the siege and to have bojan hadzihaliloviic (of design agency "trio") as a professor at the academy of fine arts.

in recent years one of the most well known "war" posters - trio's "enjoy sarajevo" - has become a souvenier (hope i spelled that right) and has lost, or at least changed, its message. still a limited edition of this poster, that was printed on discarded military (minefield) maps is (imho) one of the posters of this "era" with strongest (sub)message.

also, one should mention the "afterwar" bosnian posters, mainly works of anur hadziomerspahic (ideologija) including recent series of posters that mark tenth anniversary of srebrenica massacre.

On Sep.16.2005 at 06:38 PM

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