In honor of International Peace Day, the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) opened the exhibition “The Love Tales,” which presents a photo-story about multi-ethnic relationships and marriages from different cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, PCRC launched MIR [Peace] Magazine, a platform which enables young people to push creative and social boundaries in our country. “The Love Tales” exhibition was set up in the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The exhibition focuses on 10 multi-ethnic couples from BiH and presents their life stories, which were recorded by youth correspondents from PCRC’s multimedia platform Balkan Diskurs. The photography in the exhibition is the works of Mitar Simikić and Armin Durgut, and its launch was organized within the Manifesta 14 Western Balkans Project. Velma Šarić, founder and president of PCRC, said that “The Love Tales” – some of which can be found in MIR Magazine – are a way of working together with young people from across BiH to break down stereotypes about love between people from different ethnic and religious groups. Šarić noted that BiH was like a microcosm of the former Yugoslavia, with a mixed marriage rate of 37 percent. According to Šarić, statistical data shows that nowadays, only six percent of marriages are multi-ethnic. Maja Gasal-Vražalica, whose story is included in the “The Love Tales,” said that in BiH, people talk about various minorities determined by nationality, ethnicity, and sexual orientation; however, no one talks about another minority – people in ethnically and religiously mixed relationships. She thanked the entire PCRC team for portraying her and her husband’s story in a sensitive and clear way with both the images and text. She recalled the time of former Yugoslavia, when her parents were happier as a mixed couple. When she compares it with the current situation in BiH, she feels that both she and her son, as the child of an ethnically mixed marriage, are “less accepted.” “There are four of us in the photo – my son, the cat, my husband, and I. I guarantee that the four of us are a small Bosnia and Herzegovina. But we are condemned as such and even stigmatized as people without an identity, because we don’t label ourselves. I’m happy to take part in these discussions and say that we are more Bosnian than the majority of ethnically and religiously clean marriages,” said Gasal-Vražalica. The photographer, Mitar Simikić, thanked PCRC for engaging him in this project. He emphasized that in the course of this work, he gained new friends and incredible experience from not only traveling across BiH but spending time with the people he photographed in their homes. He is even more grateful because he himself comes from a mixed family. “The Love Tales” are featured in MIR Magazine, which includes the stories of 33 young authors who are correspondents of the Balkan Diskurs. “Young people are the backbone of peace. We are doing this for them. For nine years, we have had a program called Balkan Diskurs, through which we have trained over 250 people. Many of them still write for us. And some of their articles are in front of you today, in MIR Magazine,” said Šarić. She emphasized that the magazine, which is published in Bosnian and English, presents stories about both domestic and international organizations, cultural heritage, and everything that transcends limits both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Western Balkans. Azra Berbić, a lawyer, activist, and one of the authors of “The Love Tales,” said that these stories leave a positive overall impression, and are not sugar coated, but presented as they are. “We contacted more than 50 couples throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, and ultimately interviewed 21 couples. During the whole process, from research and field work to writing the stories, many of these couples left Bosnia and Herzegovina because of prejudices and stereotypes, that is, what we live with in Bosnia and Herzegovina today. We tend not to accept families like these, unfortunately,” said Berbić. The stories included couples from both larger cities and smaller communities, and it was particularly interesting to Berbić that it was easier to find ethnically mixed couples in Banja Luka than in Tuzla, which is considered the most open city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reason, she explained, is that mixed couples in Tuzla do not want to identify themselves by this label, while in Banja Luka, they go out together. Mirnes Bakija, a journalist, activist, and author of “The Love Tales,” said that working on these stories was important to him because they showcase people who are truly together out of love.