'84
Mount Igman, near Sarajevo, was one of the sports venues in the Winter Olympics '84 in Ex-Yugoslavia. Eight years later, it became a deadly war zone during the siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996).
It seems, as strange as it sounds, that war and the Olympic games have something in common. Partially because war creates a sense of unity in the face of a collective threat. Just like the Olympic games, it binds people together – not just the army engaged in battle, but the whole community. However, games do not contribute to humans extinction, wars do.
Athletes from different parts of the world arrived at the Olympic hotel on mount Igman, to participate in peaceful competition. Eight years later soldiers were hiding in its ruins, searching for cover from artillery shells.
Mount Igman symbolizes a fragile line between war and peace. The fact that so many societies all over the world fail to stop repeating history, by continuing to engage in massive violent conflicts, shows us that mankind lives in a loop it can't escape.
