A new photodocumentary exhibition has opened at The Fusilier Museum in Bury to commemorate 25 years since NATO peacekeeping force KFOR entered Kosovo.
The exhibition, titled "KFOR and Kosovo +25", is a joint project between The Fusilier Museum and Heartstone, a UK-based arts, cultural, and education organisation.
It showcases more than 50 images captured by photojournalist Nick Sidle, who was attached to KFOR (The Kosovo Force) during the early stages of the operation in 2000-1.
Mr Sidle was embedded with several units, including The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and his photographs provide a "unique record" of the peacekeepers' work, as well as the stories of the people and the 'need for intervention' to protect lives and homes.
The project has been made possible by funding from National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
It also features personal stories and artefacts of Fusiliers who were posted to Kosovo, as well as refugees who fled the country to find peace.
The museum has worked closely with Voices of Kosovo in Manchester (VoKim), an oral history project created by Manchester Aid to Kosovo in 2016 to record and preserve the story of the Kosovar community in Manchester.
The exhibition was officially opened by Lord George Robertson, the former Secretary General of NATO, who joined the proceedings online.
It opened to the general public on Tuesday, November 12.
Colonel Brian Gorski, chairman of The Fusilier Museum, said: "We are delighted to be able to host KFOR and Kosovo +25 and to document a period of history that mustn’t be forgotten.
"The Fusiliers played an integral part in the Kosovan intervention and it’s our responsibility as the regimental museum to tell all sides of the story.
"Huge thanks to National Lottery players and the Heritage Fund for supporting our vision and for providing the funding to make it a reality.
"We hope visitors old and new take the time to visit the museum and make the most of the opportunity to see such thought-provoking photography."
Sita Kumari, director at Heartstone, added: "The photostory not only captured the work of the soldiers, it also highlighted the world of Kosovo at the time from a human angle, to enable audiences beyond the country to empathise and understand a world in which intolerance and hate had been taken to new levels and why there was a need for the peacekeeping intervention to safeguard lives and homes, and help rebuild ordinary life in what were extraordinary circumstances."
KFOR and Kosovo +25 is the first staging in the north of England after previously being on display at The Fusilier Museum in the Tower of London, The National Museum of Kosovo, and The House of Commons.
The full exhibition of approximately 200 images is currently under discussion to be presented as a permanent gallery in the new National Museum of Kosovo in 2026, with stories added of some of the civilians featured in the images who have been tracked down 25 years later.
The Fusilier Museum is home to the collections of XX The Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
Documenting more than 300 years of history and heritage through permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum tells the "rich and fascinating" stories of the people who have served and continue to serve in the regiments.
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