The Pavarotti Centre in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, opened in 1997 after the bloody wars in the former Yugoslavia. The objective was to try to bring a divided people together through music. So I was I very happy to see that the PMC has had a facelift and opened a new social area at the front of the building – Klub 27. I am honoured that my Bob Marley quote greets visitors as they come in the door.
A brief aside. I helped smuggle in a Marley photo/music exhibition into Mostar in 1995 in the war because, as he says, “When music hits you, you feel no pain”. Twenty five years later, that remains true of this centre, of the people who work here and the young people who take part in its actvities. Good luck to Klub 27. I will be there as soon as I can. Rock on. And here's the link to Marley's "One Love".
NB: I wanted to include this excerpt from the 'Music & War' chapter in my memoir, Left Field. The whole book can now be read free online here.
"The Centre allowed the healing power of music to enter this community. The young were particularly affected by the war and, from the day the PMC opened its doors, they flooded in. Some of them used music to escape their darkest memories. They would tell me that only when they played, or heard music, could they escape their nightmares. Children and young people were brought together to make and listen to music: to sing, to beat drums, to strum guitars, to act and react together through music."
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