On July 11, 1995, towards the end of the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, the eastern enclave of Srebrenica fell to Serb nationalist forces. As Srebrenica fell, thousands of male Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) inhabitants were rounded up and systematically massacred. Over eight thousand men and boys perished. To this day, their remains are being exhumed from secret mass graves scattered throughout eastern Bosnia.

The atrocity left thousands of women without a home or adult male member of their family. Ever since the end of the war they have struggled to support their families and recover from the trauma. Women who had been displaced from Srebrenica and other parts of eastern Bosnia, with the guidance of Munira Beba Hadzic, founded BosFam, a women's self-help organization and crafts cooperative.

The women of BosFam create and market items of clothing and handicrafts, including the traditional kilim, or flat-weave carpet. In 2007 BosFam began to weave a Srebrenica Memorial Quilt to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The quilt is created from many smaller, individual kilim panels that have been stitched together, each bearing the name of a lost loved-one.

Today there exist seven such Memorial Quilts that are traveling the world with facilitation in the United States by the Advocacy Project, keeping alive the memory of Srebrenica, and informing people of the struggle of the women survivors and their organization BosFam. You are welcome to come view the Memorial Quilt as it tours the Pacific Northwest -- and feel free to make a pledge to support the women weavers in their work to create new quilts!