Gonçalo Mabunda, 1975

Gonçalo Armando Mabunda was born in Mozambique in 1975. He is an acclaimed sculptor who transforms instruments of war into objects of beauty. From his workshop in Maputo, he creates masks, thrones, and figures using decommissioned weapons and military equipment.

AK-47s, land mines, rocket launchers, soldiers’ boots and helmets, even sections of tanks — all are bent, welded, and reimagined into vivid sculptures sought by collectors and galleries worldwide. Mabunda explains that his work aims “to represent each person who died with this same material.” At the same time, each sculpture has a practical impact: “If we destroy the weapons, the same weapon’s not going to kill any more.”

Even after two decades of peace, Mozambique still bears the legacy of conflict. A ten-year struggle for independence from Portugal (ending in 1975) was followed by a sixteen-year civil war, leaving the country scattered with hidden weapons and unexploded ordnance.

Since 1995, the Christian Council of Mozambique has worked to recover weapons from communities, exchanging them for tools or building materials through the program *Transforming Guns into Hoes*. Inspired by the biblical verse “They will beat their swords into plowshares,” the program has recovered more than 800,000 weapons — many of which have been destroyed or transformed by artists like Mabunda.

A full-time artist since 1997, Mabunda’s early works reflected the uncertainty of Mozambique’s fragile peace. His practice has since evolved, but it remains deeply informed by the experiences that shaped his homeland and by a commitment to collective memory.

source: CNN