Trees as Militarized Bodies

Interview 21: Protective Plane Trees in Front of Government Office

"is this a plane? "Yeah." It is a plane. It has a kind of base, like it has been plopped on the ground, or its roots have been moving and pushing up. It has this knob on the northern side. It's so big that we can all just hold hands around it, the three of us. Speculations on why it remains: it is exposed, I think, to the observatory actually... maybe not. It also might serve as protection for the Roman-looking buildings behind us. It has a face on it - the tree is smiling. The tree is bigger than the building. This whole park is all plane trees; it's a Austro-Hungarian plantain. A ministry is behind it. "Vanjskih Poslova." Also known as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs"

Location: Park Mirze i Davora, Sarajevo 71000.

Sarajevo: City Under Siege (1994) BBC documentary

~35:00 militarized trees, “We didn’t know anything. We hid behind trees.”

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Trees as Resource

Interview 24: Circle of Blue Spruce "We're standing inside the room made by five variants on coniferous pine trees. These are all young because they are hidden behind a large building. So, you have the triangle [of concealment to the] north of the building, and beyond this triangle's [area] are larger trees. The inside here is barren and the floor is made of pine needles. I wonder if people hang out here. I see a pigeon bone." Within Park Mirze i Davora there is one triangularly shaped area that would have been shielded from sniper view by neighbouring buildings. Today, most of the trees in this park are between 150-200 years old and were likely planted during Austro-Hungarian Times. However, there is one exception to that assessment: the five spruce trees within the triangle of protection. In the place of trees cut for firewood, these five spruce were planted in their stead during the war. See the article excerpt below. The Location: Park Mirz...

Trees as Resource

Interview 26: Young Linden Along Terezija "Tree 26 is part of a group of young lindens that have been planted on the street where the Dom Mladih mall is situated [and which runs parallel to the Miljacka]. It is quite out in the open, so we were doubting why there [are] young trees here. And we think the answer is that there were containers placed here in the war and that gave [the citizens] enough shelter to cut down the [existing] trees for wood. To be investigated." Location: Terezija, Sarajevo 71000. Cropped image: FAMA, Survival Map, 1992-96.

Trees as Resource

Interview 12: Young Birch in an Overgrown, Private Garden "A young birch tree sits with another birch trees and many other trees, some ivy, some weeds, and a very angry crow who is maybe territorial and doesn't like that we are here. These are all quite young, in an overgrown garden. It's pretty typical for Sarajevo: one big Robinia [also known as black locust], a lot of elder trees, and a kitten, a walnut tree, and another cat." As a young tree in a private garden, it is likely that during the war trees were felled here for firewood. Location: Pruščakova, Sarajevo 71000. Sarajevo: City Under Siege (1994) BBC documentary: ~22:59 women cut down birch tree, “Leave my birch alone!” “It’s too late. We’ve already cut it.”

Trees in Sarajevo

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