Hold the Beloved City – A0 Framed Canvas

Made to order in Cape Town · Complimentary delivery across South Africa

Contemporary Historical Beauty Wall Art from the Inat — Beauty Under Siege Collection

Made to order in Cape Town · Nationwide delivery

Hold the Beloved City is a contemporary artwork inspired by the women of the 1993 Miss Besieged Sarajevo pageant — and by an imagined moment the artist wished they could have had.

On 29 May 1993, in the second year of the siege, thirteen young women took to the stage, sheltered from the shelling and sniper fire that had gripped the city. Seventeen-year-old Inela Nogić was crowned Miss Besieged Sarajevo, with Dijana Šehić and Marija Mišić as her runners-up. Before the evening ended, the contestants unfolded a banner with a message for the world: "Don't let them kill us."

Yet when the artist thought of those young women, she found herself imagining them somewhere else entirely: climbing out of hiding, up to a rooftop window, to look out over the city they loved.

Having visited Sarajevo herself, she remembered how it looks at night — a valley glittering with light, the hills alive with windows and streetlamps. During the siege, that view was almost extinguished. A lit window could draw a sniper's aim, and so the city went dark, its lights scattered and few, like embers refusing to go out.

This scene never happened, yet it feels as though it could have.

Three women stand together at the window, arms wrapped around one another, faces turned close. Beyond them, Sarajevo rests in the valley, the last warm light fading along the ridge of the mountains and only a handful of lights still burning below. They are not posing. They are holding on — to each other, and to the city that is theirs.

There is tenderness here, and solidarity, and something deeper still: a love of place that no siege could take away. In bringing these women out of hiding and up to the rooftop, the artist gives them what the war denied them — the open sky, the view, and a moment of peace above the city they refused to abandon.

Rendered in deep midnight blue and soft apricot light, Hold the Beloved City feels suspended somewhere between memory and dream. It carries both the fragility of that time and its extraordinary warmth: the way people held one another, and held their city, through the darkest of nights.

Hold the Beloved City is a portrait of sisterhood and belonging — and an homage to the women of Sarajevo, whose love for their city outlasted the siege.

Part of the Inat — Beauty Under Siege Collection. Created through photography and mixed-media composition, this large South African wall artwork has a cinematic, painterly quality. Its moody midnight palette, glowing apricot light and intimate composition make it a striking statement piece for a living room, bedroom, entrance hall, office or hospitality interior.

The artwork is printed on premium canvas and custom framed to order in Cape Town. It is available in a Natural Obeche or Kiaat-Stained Obeche floating frame.

Artwork details

Artwork size: A0 landscape — 118.9 × 84.1 cm
Medium: Photography and mixed-media composition
Print: Premium canvas
Frame: Solid Obeche wood
Frame profile: 7 mm visible face × 50 mm depth
Floating gap: 5 mm
Frame finishes: Natural Obeche or Kiaat-stained Obeche
Hanging hardware: Included
Made in: Cape Town, South Africa

Framing

Each artwork is custom framed with a slim 7 mm face, generous 50 mm depth and a subtle 5 mm floating gap. Choose Natural Obeche for a light, warm finish or Kiaat-stained Obeche for a richer, darker appearance.

Production and delivery

Each piece is made to order in Cape Town and carefully packaged for secure delivery. Please allow 5 working days for production before dispatch.

Complimentary delivery is included to most major cities and suburbs across South Africa. Remote or outlying areas may incur an additional delivery fee. If a surcharge applies to your address, we will contact you before production begins.

Returns and exchanges

Each Republic of Venus artwork is individually made and framed to order, and for this reason we are unable to accept returns or exchanges for change of mind.

If your artwork arrives damaged, has a manufacturing defect, or is not what you ordered, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can arrange a replacement.

Republic of Venus — Poetry, for your walls.