Video: Bosnian business man creates park inspired by Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night

A Bosnian businessman has recreated the Vincent van Gogh painting The Starry Night in the form of a 10-hectare park in Visoko, central Bosnia. Halim Zukic wanted to create a park since buying some land in a nearby village 20 years ago and is thrilled to have achieved that dream, he told Reuters.

Until six years ago, Zukic had no clear idea of what the park should look like. He was standing on a hill watching tractors in a hay meadow when the idea of recreating the 1889 Van Gogh painting came to him. Their spiral-shaped wheel tracks in the earth reminded him of the swirls in The Starry Night.“From that moment, I was no longer in doubt,” Zukic told Reuters.

Then followed years of time, money, and effort to realize his dream. Zukic did the landscaping himself. He planted more trees, created 13 lakes using existing streams, and recreated the swirls and colorful circles of the painting with 130,000 lavender bushes in six different shades, as well has aromatic herbs like sage, wormwood, and chamomile.

“This is the largest representation of The Starry Night, and the result of 20 years of dreams, of living those dreams to make them real,” Zukic told Reuters. He wants the park to be a refuge for locals and visitors alike. The park will promote art programs and central Bosnia’s cultural heritage, he said.