Saturday, September 17, 2011

Contemporary Art at the British Museum

Shortly after Mozambique's independence from Portugal in the 1974 the country plunged into civil war.  It is estimated that 7 to 10 million guns flooded into the country, which is an incredible amount when you consider how small the population of Mozambique is.  According to the Small Arms Survey of 2007 the asking price of an AK 47 in Mozambique was found to be $30 which is about £19 based on the current exchange rate (and this was probably less back in 2007).  

Schemes were set up after the civil war to encourage people to exchange weapons for tools and a group of artists (Cristovao Canhavto, Adelino Serafim Mate, Fiel dos Santos, Hilario Nhatugueja) have made the below sculptures - Throne of Weapons (by Cristovao Canhavto) and Tree of Life (by all 4 artist)




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