Friso Keuris Dutchbat III - 5 June - 2 August 2010
It is exactly fifteen years since the end of the most controversial UN peacekeeping mission in which the Netherlands has ever been involved. The whole world remembers Srebrenica, where almost 8,000 muslim men were taken prisoner and murdered by Bosnian Serbs after they had left the protected enclave on foot in the hope of reaching Central Bosnia. It was one of the most disgraceful events in contemporary history and a deeply traumatic experience for the Dutchbat III peacekeepers personally involved. Photographer Friso Keuris (b. 1963) has produced a penetrating series of portraits of Dutchbat III veterans; on show at Gemak from 5 June, the large-format monochrome portraits are close-ups of the faces of men who have seen with their own eyes how war unleashes all that is worst in human nature.
