‘I leave Sarajevo not to avoid death, but to
continue to paint, if I can survive.’
Dobrivoje Beljkasic, November 1992
Yugoslavia was created after the First World War when new boundaries were
drawn across Europe. In the 1990s it broke up through a series of conflicts
known collectively as the Yugoslav Wars.
Artist Dobrivoje Beljkasic and his teacher wife Gordana were evacuated from
Sarajevo in 1992 with the help of the Red Cross, after Dobri’s studio was
burned down.
They finally made it to Wiltshire and then to Bristol where they were reunited
with their daughter Dragana (Dee) Smart, who had left Sarajevo the previous
year. Here they found many supportive and like-minded people, including
artists, so Dobri was able to start painting and exhibiting again.
Drawing loaned by Dobrivoje Beljkasic, Shows Gordana Beljkasic collecting firewood
Photo: Dobrivoje Beljkasic, courtesy of Dee Smart