During the 1998-1999 Kosovo/Serbian conflict more than 45,000 displaced Kosovar Albanians were saved in a refugee camp in the Macedonia town of Cegrane—that is more than three times the size of the town itself.  As they were leaving the camp to return to their homes in Kosovo the refugees left their handprints on the outer walls of the town that protected them as a sign of “freedom, peace, and gratitude.”  Subsequently, the meaning of the handprints have been forgotten in the town and the walls are slated for demolition. Boryana Katsavora’s photo gallery “Handprints of Peace” seeks to recover and to memorialize a humanist moment in history at which strangers reached out to help one another at great risk to themselves.

We are pleased to introduce  Boryana Katsavora, a Bulgarian-Russian documentary photographer, and her work to the NCN audience. To view “Handprints of Peace” click on the image photograph.  To sample Katsavora’s other work click here or visit her blog.