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If anyone on 'Poly likes African art and culture (and I know there's a few of you out there...) then you'll be glad to know an enormous exhibition of contemporary and historical African art is opening across Great Britain, and at a number of venues in London, such as the British Museum and the Hayward Gallery.
I've been fortunate enough to get a preview of some exhibits (friends in low places
) and anyone as fond of African cultures and art as me will want to book their tickets for a stay of a week or longer to get even minimal enjoyment from the range of exhibitions and lectures on offer.
" A sculpture made of weapons from Mozambique's 17-year civil war was unveiled at the British Museum yesterday as part of its Africa arts festival.
The Tree of Life is made from chopped-up AK-47 rifles, pistols and rocket-propelled grenade launchers collected by the Transforming Arms Into Tools project, which employs former child soldiers in Mozambique to dismantle guns. The weapon partsare swapped locally for farming tools, sewing machines, bicycles and building materials .
In the past nine years the project has dismantled more than 600,000 weapons.
Artists in Mozambique spent three months creating the three-metre-tall sculpture. A second sculpture, a chair made from AK-47s, named Throne of Weapons, will be exhibited around the UK at schools, cathedrals, shopping centres and prisons.
"The sculptures are a wonderful symbol of reconciliation after conflict," said the British Museum's director, Neil MacGregor.
Bishop Dinis Sengulane, founder of Transforming Arms Into Tools, said the sculptures were relevant to UK gun crime. "We would like you to adapt this to your own reality. People involved in the armament industry, even in making toy guns, should realise that guns are instruments for destroying human life." "
I've been fortunate enough to get a preview of some exhibits (friends in low places
) and anyone as fond of African cultures and art as me will want to book their tickets for a stay of a week or longer to get even minimal enjoyment from the range of exhibitions and lectures on offer." A sculpture made of weapons from Mozambique's 17-year civil war was unveiled at the British Museum yesterday as part of its Africa arts festival.
The Tree of Life is made from chopped-up AK-47 rifles, pistols and rocket-propelled grenade launchers collected by the Transforming Arms Into Tools project, which employs former child soldiers in Mozambique to dismantle guns. The weapon partsare swapped locally for farming tools, sewing machines, bicycles and building materials .
In the past nine years the project has dismantled more than 600,000 weapons.
Artists in Mozambique spent three months creating the three-metre-tall sculpture. A second sculpture, a chair made from AK-47s, named Throne of Weapons, will be exhibited around the UK at schools, cathedrals, shopping centres and prisons.
"The sculptures are a wonderful symbol of reconciliation after conflict," said the British Museum's director, Neil MacGregor.
Bishop Dinis Sengulane, founder of Transforming Arms Into Tools, said the sculptures were relevant to UK gun crime. "We would like you to adapt this to your own reality. People involved in the armament industry, even in making toy guns, should realise that guns are instruments for destroying human life." "
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