Dramatic paintings reflect experiences of war investigations
Paintings by a former forensic technician which are based on his time in war zones are on show in Cardiff. We find out more about the show organised by the charity Remembering Srebrenica Wales
AS a forensic technician, Robert McNeil was key to the post-war investigation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, working in the country for almost a decade.
His work has been used in several cases and trials within the International Criminal Tribunal in the former Yugoslavia and Bosnian-Herzegovinian courts.
Once retired he began developing PTSD and used painting as a form of therapy.
These paintings, based on his time in the war zones, have been exhibited in various museums in Scotland and at the Scottish parliament and now the charity Remembering Srebrenica Wales is bringing them to Cardiff.
Remembering Srebrenica Wales is the Welsh arm of British charitable initiative, Remembering Srebrenica, which organises UK events for Srebrenica Memorial Day, which takes place each year on July 11.
Robert says: “As a teenager in the 60s I was interested mainly in two subjects: drawing and human anatomy. I had planned to study at art school but ended up as a mortuary technician in a hospital in Glasgow.
“Back then I had no idea that those two subjects would become linked many years later.
“I loved working in the autopsy room with the pathologists and learned so much from them about the human body.
“Over my 40-year career as a technician I assisted with every type of post-mortem – from murdered children to elderly hospital patients who had died of natural causes.
“Following the discovery of mass graves near the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia, I was asked by the Department of Forensic Medicine in Glasgow to join the first of many international forensic teams.
“I was so profoundly moved by the suffering inflicted on the victims and by the grief of their families that I returned to Bosnia six times to help gather evidence of war crimes that would result in putting the perpetrators behind bars.
“Recovering severely disrupted bodies from mass graves, natural disasters and terrorist attacks can be sometimes harrowing, dangerous and challenging work and not to everyone’s taste, so why do people do it? Over the years I have been fortunate to have met and worked with many inspirational and exceptional people.
“Many of these people are colleagues, but others include the families of victims who have experienced tragedy beyond most people’s comprehension who, despite their grief, can still find within them an empathy and understanding of the work we do.
“I found this very humbling and I’m sure it made me a better person.
“When I retired I took up painting. I felt compelled to depict some of the images that sometimes ‘visited me’ in the night so I set out to create 12 works that would act as a cathartic exercise.
“These images portray events that I experienced during my time in Bosnia, Kosovo and also in France during the exhumation of British and Australian WWI soldiers.”
■ Witness is at the Pierhead building in Cardiff Bay until Sunday, June 3