A new photo exhibition marking 25 years since the end of the Kosovo War is currently touring the UK. It launched at the Scottish Parliament last year, thanks to partners and supporters including Legion Scotland. 

Organised by Heartstone, the exhibition includes images made on the ground by photographer Nick Sidle, with support from the then-NATO Secretary-General. It also includes modern-day photos featuring the same veterans and civilians. 

The Kosovo War was a conflict between, on one side, Serbia and Montenegro (then the Republic of Yugoslavia) and a group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army. NATO joined the conflict in March 1999 through aerial strikes – described as a peacekeeping operation – which led to the war ending on 11 June of that year, 15 months after it first broke out. 

More than 13,500 people were killed or went missing during the war, while an estimated 1.2-1.45 million Kosovo Albanians were displaced. 

Sitakumari, a director at Heartstone, says, “Our hope is that the story will reach a wide audience, including in particular children and young people, and increase contact with veterans who have been part of peacekeeping missions and who can talk about what they did. This story is about building empathy, understanding and contact.” 

For more on the Kosovo exhibition, visit heartstonechandra.com 

Photography by Nick Sidle