The women who weave the socks and carpets for Sovereign Threads are all apart of BOSFAM, a genocide survivors organization in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. The women survived the Srebrenica genocide, in which as many as 10,000 men were murdered in a matter of days in July of 1995. As the men were being systematically executed, the women were bused off to refugee camps. These women survived the genocide but lost their homes, families, communities and hope. In the refugee camps, they came together to form an organization called BOSFAM, in which they come to find community and hope. In a traditionally male run society these women have become leaders and innovators. BOSFAM is a place where women of all ethnicities , religions and ages can come together to weave, grieve, and grow. Their traditional skills and advanced craftsmanship produces beautiful handicraft and carpets. These women have risen out of war and genocide but still are struggling out of poverty. These carpets and socks are their way out. Sovereign Threads is the avenue for these women to support themselves in a country where a generation of men were erased and the main breadwinners in the communities is now the women
The women share a communal meal on a break at the workshop in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Women gather in the center square of Tuzla to hold a vigil for the men that remain missing after war.
After war has ravaged their country, the women of BOSFAM are committed to raising a peaceful and open generation of Bosnians.
