A NEW painting by acclaimed artist Peter Howson, produced for the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, is being showcased at an exhibition commemorating the Bosnian War and the genocide in Srebrenica.

Howson’s Bosnian Twilight – the Silent Forest will be on show at the exhibition in the Community Gallery at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, which reveals powerful stories of ordinary people who lived through the conflict, as well as exploring some of Scotland’s connections with the country during and after it.

The display also includes a unique collection of personal items from Bosnians now living in Scotland, and from Scots who travelled to Bosnia to deliver aid and help uncover the truth about the genocide. Several items are also on loan from the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The exhibition was originally planned for the 25th anniversary last year but was delayed due to the pandemic.

READ MORE: We must not allow likes of Srebrenica to happen ever again

It opened yesterday, as the world marked White Armband Day, which takes place every May 31 to remember the campaign of ethnic cleansing that took place in the town of Prijedor, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, when the Serb wartime authorities ordered non-Serbs to mark themselves and their homes with white armbands and sheets.

Thousands were forced from their homes, interned in camps and many were killed, including children.

The exhibition will remain in place during July when the 26th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide is marked – the greatest atrocity on European soil since the Second World War – and will run until November 24 this year.

Items on display include an ID card belonging to schoolgirl Elvira Mujkanovic who was held in a concentration camp with her family, before the Red Cross helped her flee to Scotland; the international refugee camp registration certificate belonging to Jasmin Mujkanovic, who was held and mistreated along with thousands of others in another notorious concentration camp. They were eventually reunited in Croatia after each was convinced the other had died, and they later married.

There is also a United Nations ID card belonging to volunteers Alan Witcutt and his wife Christine, who delivered aid from Scotland to Bosnia, but as their convoy left Sarajevo, she was killed by a Serb sniper; and a UN cap belonging to Robert McNeil, a forensic technician from Glasgow who was part of the international team that uncovered mass graves in Bosnia. In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladic massacred 8372 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

Now, 26 years on, there are still families searching for the bodies of their loved ones, but there is persistent denial about the atrocities which took place – a modern example of attempts to spread disinformation.

Remembering Srebrenica Scotland has organised nearly 20 delegations to Srebrenica since it was established in 2015, with participants including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and MSPs from all parties. The charity’s vision is a society free from hatred, and it tries to bring communities together to remember Srebrenica through commemorative events in the UK; taking people on its Lesson from Srebrenica programme to learn from the survivors of the genocide; and developing an education resource for use in Scottish schools.

David Hamilton, its secretary and treasurer, volunteered as an aid convoy driver during the war, and his parents-in-law were the Witcutts. He said: “My late father-in-law and his wife Christine Witcutt went out to Bosnia in 1992 and sadly when they left Sarajevo, Christine was shot by sniper and died.

“So, it’s very poignant to come back here and see Alan’s ID card in this exhibition, which shows the connection Scotland had with Bosnia during that terrible time.”

McNeil, now an ambassador of Remembering Srebrenica UK, added: “The UN cap was given to me when I first arrived in Bosnia in 1996. I wore it throughout my numerous deployments to Bosnia, particularly to Srebrenica and then to Kosovo, and I hang on to it because it’s a constant reminder of the work I was engaged with out there.”