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Every August, dozens of brass bands meet in Guča, a small village in southern Serbia. Séverine Petit, a young French photographer, was enchanted by the energy of the Festival. Here are some of her photographs.

Does a "post-Yugoslavia” exist? The word "post" suggests something that has already passed, according to a social pattern based on consumption change. In its meaning, it encourages a search for something culturally or physically abandoned. Pictures by Franco Revelli.

A return to Mostar and Bosnia-Herzegovina during the period immediately following the war. Glances catch moments frozen with the passing of time, fluctuating in the recent past. Photographs by Ivana Telebak.

On a journey of hundreds of kilometres through the Balkans starting from Mostar for the commemoration of the new “Stari Most” (Old Bridge), continuing on through central Bosnia then Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania and then northwards to Belgrade. A journey undertaken by OBC staff. Photographs by Luka Zanoni.

Two friends and photographers, Mauro Fagiani ( www.maurofagiani.it  ) and Mario Caroni (www.mariocaroni.it  ), walked through the streets of Sarajevo after reading Izet Sarajlic's poems. Here OBC presents their photographs.

In September 2003, “Osservatorio sui Balcani” supported a journey along the Danube river, from Vienna to Belgrade, to talk about Europe with people living on the two sides of the Adriatic. Faces and landscapes from that enchanting journey.

Faces met along the Danube during the initiative "Danubio, l'Europa si incontra" ("Danube, a meeting point in Europe") in September 2003. Pictures by Dejan Georgievski.

Christian Penocchio, born in Rouen, Normandy in 1964, is a photojournalist who lives and works in Brescia, Italy. In the early 1990's, Christian began to gather information about the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in cooperation with the humanitarian organization “Local Democracy Embassy in Zavidovici”. He returned to the country many times, even after the war, and witnessed Bosnia-Herzegovina's change first-hand.

A journey through post-war Kosovo to bear witness to disappearances and forced detentions. Pictures by Fabio Piana.

OBC's editorial staff travelled from Tuzla to Srebrenica, a city that remains a symbol of the Yugoslav war and, 10 years after the end of the conflict, is slowly rebuilding. A glimpse at today's city. A photo reportage by Gughi Fassino.

About three thousand boys live in the “sewers” of Bucharest, the tunnels carrying hot water pipes that criss-cross under the city. They are warm yet unhealthy, and for the homeless children who live there, they provide refuge from the cold and dangers of the street. Photos by Paolo Siccardi.

Ten years after the Dayton Agreement, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has brought cases of rape against Muslim Bosnian to trial in the jurisdiction of the Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Some women from the “Zene Zrtvarata” Association, important witnesses in these trials, have been subjected to threats.

After the bridge was rebuilt in Mostar, many people thought Muslims and Croats would live together again. However, all the efforts made to give Bosnians their bridge again did not produce the expected result. Of course nobody wants another fight, but nobody seems ready to live daily life together again. Photos by Antonello Nusca: www.antonellonusca.com.

A visual journey through Kosovo. Some of these photographs featured in a touring exhibition entitled "Kosovo - Note a margine di un conflitto" ("Kosovo – Margin Notes on a Conflict"). Pictures by Fabio Piana.

A dramatic photo report, in colour and black and white, on the commemoration ceremony in Srebrenica on the 10th anniversary of the massacre. Pictures by Rudi Della Bartola - E mail: rdb@rdbphotoreportage.com.

A Roma community makes its home near a Tirana cemetery on the western outskirts of the Albanian capital. In black and white, the deep contrasts of a marginalized world. Pictures by Mario Salzano.

The company Zastava Automobiles is known for its car production and is a symbol of Yugoslav industrialization. Based in Kragujevac, central Serbia, the company was hit hard by the economic crisis of the Nineties. Now it is trying to start up again. Pictures by Gughi Fassino.

The Dniester River crosses Moldova from north to south, dividing the country into two different states: Moldova on the west and Transnistria on the east. Currently recognized by Russia but no other international body, Transnistria declared its independence in 1992 after a short and bloody war. Photos by Marco Pighin.

The Republic of Moldova is the poorest and the least known country in Europe. This former Soviet Republic, populated by diverse peoples over the centuries, gained independence in 1990. However, one third of its population now lives abroad and remittances are the core of the Moldovan economy.

Some districts in Istanbul are like a lung, they fill up every day and every night exhale a sudden, mysterious calm. A winter day in Istanbul. Pictures by Giulia Mirandola.

Thousands of people came from all over Kosovo to attend the funeral of Ibrahim Rugova, pay tribute to him, and mourn the loss of one of their most important leaders. Pictures by Alem - alememail@gmail.com.

The city of Shushi holds a symbolic place in the recent history of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is from this city that the Red Army and the Azeri Army bombed Stepanakaert, capital of Nagorno-Karabakh and stronghold of Armenian separatists for five years. The Armenians conquered it the night of the 9th and 10^th of May, 1993. Photographs by Nicola Lott.

Color photographs of Azerbaijan, taken during the OSCE observation of the parliamentary elections held there in November, 2005, reveal the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and its valleys on the border of Armenia. Black and white photographs bring out the chiaroscuro of modern Baku and its outskirts, scarred by the black gold rush of the early Twentieth Century and the Soviet regime. Pictures by Fabio Della Piazza.

Hundreds of Armenian and Azeri refugee families live in crumbling buildings in the former Soviet “factory city” of Rustavi, Georgia, located 30 kilometres from the capital, Tbilisi. These photographs were taken in April, 2005. Photographs by Alessandro Franzetti

Slobodan Milosevic's funerals revealed Serbia's persisting social and political divisions. The crowd of Milosevic worshippers, who attended the ceremony in Belgrade, met with a counter-protest organized by critics of the former Serbian leader. Pictures by Francesco Martino.

In spring, an enchanting city surrounded by borders seems to leave its problems - refugees, the poor, the crumbling infrastructure - behind. A photo reportage by Maurizio Gjivovich, in cooperation with the Italian Ngo “Alisei”.

On a special day in Serbia, Orthodox families commemorate their saint protector in a tradition that varies from family to family. Cities celebrate their protector saint too. In Belgrade, according to the Orthodox calendar, the day for propitiatory rites corresponds with "Spasovdan", the Ascension of Jesus. Pictures by Mario Salzano.

21 May 2006: Montenegro bids farewell to Yugoslavia after a referendum in which Montenegrins voted for independence. In Podgorica, the celebration of the "Da", “yes”, vote for independence is marked with two fingers held high in the sky. Pictures by Luka Zanoni.

Ukraine is a country wavering between powerful neighbouring Russia and possible future integration with NATO and the EU. A glimpse at Ukraine and the cities of Sevastopol and Odessa in search of the political, economic, and social face of the country's transition. Photographs by Fabio Piana.

A religious ceremony in Goraždevac, a Serb enclave in Kosovo a few kilometres from Pec/Peja. Photographs by Fabrizio Bettini from 2003.