Acclaimed sculptor Gonçalo Mabunda uses discarded weapons for his art. The process was inspired by a 1995 campaign, Transforming Guns into Hopes, launched by a union of Christian churches, which sought to encourage gun owners to turn in weapons in exchange for building and farming supplies.
The initiative successfully recovered or recycled 800,000 weapons. Mabunda told CNN “If we destroy the weapons, the same weapon’s not going to kill anymore,” he explained that his art is “trying to represent each [person] who died with this same material.”
Best known for his thrones, the African artist recently started experimenting with masks made in the African tribal tradition constructed with discarded bullets and gun parts.
You can see his work on the Jack Bell stand at London Art fair this weekend. www.londonartfair.co.uk