OPENING OF SCARS BRINGS UKRAINE’S ENVIRONMENTAL STORY TO SARAJEVO

The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted another memorable evening of WARM Festival 2026 with the opening of SCARS, held on the same evening as IRAN 2026: A Chronicle, an exhibition exploring the environmental consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine through the work of a new generation of Ukrainian photographers.

Presented in partnership with FES-SOE and designed by Sanda Popovac, the exhibition is the result of the Living the War scholarship programme, which brought together young photographers to document the often overlooked ecological scars left by war. Their work looks beyond destroyed buildings and battlefields to reveal polluted rivers, contaminated soil, damaged ecosystems and the slow violence that continues long after the fighting has moved on.

The exhibition was opened by Volodymyr Kadygrob, founder of the Living the War project, who spoke about the importance of supporting independent documentary photography and preserving the memory of the war through long-term visual storytelling.

The two openings turned the National Museum into one of the busiest places of the festival, with photographers, journalists, artists and visitors staying long after the official programme to continue conversations and meet old and new friends.

The exhibition features work by Mykyta Bezus, Ivan Samoilov, Valya Polishchuk, Ruslana Kliuchko and Rehina Bukvych, produced through the Living the War scholarship programme under the mentorship of Mykhaylo Palinchak, Sasha Kurmaz and Elena Subach, with Kateryna Radchenko leading the mentorship programme.