Bath Inter Faith Group took the initiative to mark Mitzvah Day 2025 by gathering people to work together on producing ceramic Srebrenica Flowers, the 11 white petaled flowers with green centre symbolising innocence and hope for better times, commemorating the date of the Srebrenica Genocide on the 11th of July 1995.

Mitzvah Day: painting the 11-petalled Srebrenica flowers

Bath IFG guests making ceramic flowers at Bath Artists’ Studios.

Mitzvah Day is the UK’s largest faith-led day of social action marked every year in November (mitzvahday.org.uk), by getting people of diverse backgrounds, faiths, and cultures to come together and work on a common project for the benefit of the wider community. The workshop was led by Sasha Porter, a local ceramicist, former refugee from Yugoslavia. The project was inspired by the idea of the Srebrenica flower. The flowers created will be handed out to attendees at the Guildhall in Bath on the 27 Jan 2026 Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) event. The recipients of the flowers will be encouraged to pass the flowers on to others on the 11 July 2026 with the aim to remember the genocide in Srebrenica and the hope for better times for all people caught up in conflicts and wars, thus highlighting the importance of community cohesion and working together for peace and unity. During the ceramic flowers making workshop participants had the opportunity to speak with people they had never met before, and very interesting conversations took place. Below are excerpts from feedback received following the workshop.

“There was almost not enough room for those who attended, which is very encouraging. The two hours whizzed by as we chatted with people we didn’t know while creating flowerlike shapes from porcelain. Eleven petals to mark the day and seven paint marks to show the month, of just one of the worlds’ hateful genocides. Nothing but love and laughter was present at this gathering.” “The flower making was both inspiring and educational. I enjoyed making the flowers but also meeting new people with similar values.” “The Mitzvah event - it was a delight to meet people from different communities and with diverse perspectives and be able to have interesting productive conversations with them. That is rare in my experience - usually difference is seen as something to avoid rather than as opportunity to challenge thinking and learn together. Many thanks to the organisers and the artist for bringing people together into such a positive, creative and productive space.” “Grateful for the warm welcome received during this event. It was helpful to learn more about what led to the genocide in Srebrenica. It was encouraging to talk constructively and peacefully with a lovely lady who appeared to hold opposite views to mine about Gaza. Dialogue and respect are what we need to heal our fractured world.” “There was a very nice atmosphere at the ceramic flower making event and everyone there seemed warm and friendly. Sasha gave clear instructions as to how to make the flowers and it was good to do something creative together. It was also poignant to hear about the genocide in Srebrenica over 30 years ago and nice to know that the flowers will be given out on Holocaust Memorial Day in January.” “On a rainy, cold and dark day this event brightened my day. It was a welcoming atmosphere with wonderful homemade treats and drinks. Sasha gave an informative opening introduction on the meaning behind the ceramic flowers, linking to the genocide in Srebrenica. I thought her words were powerful and thought provoking. The instructions on how to make the flowers was clear with Sasha modelling how to do it and offering encouragement, support and guidance to individuals whenever necessary.” “I met some inspiring people during the event and want to continue the conversations. It was wonderful to see so many people there and joining in. It was quite cramped in the room, but I wondered if this was because the turnout was better than anticipated.”

Thanks to Iris Segall for the write-up.