Programme Notes

The original inspiration for Planted Seeds came from media reports on the Yugoslavian conflict. The stories were so upsetting, I felt I had to know how this could have happened. That was the starting point for wondering if I could make a piece about it.

Following the war, I travelled to Sarajevo and was shocked at seeing the devastation first-hand ö seeing the bombed out buildings, you could imagine exactly what had happened. I also noticed a lot of old men sitting round in cafŽs who seemed very withdrawn. It made me wonder what theyâd done in the war and what experiences they were hiding, now theyâd re-entered society.

My visit followed a concert by the rock group, U2, where Serb, Croat and Muslim joined together to listen to music. The people I met there were still buzzing with excitement that crossed barriers of race and religion. Planted Seeds draws its inspiration from some of their personal accounts, as well as from the insights of the many authors and journalists that covered the conflict.

Darshan Singh Bhuller