Gonçalo Mabunda

In this project some weapons are destroyed while others are deactivated and given to men and women like Mabunda, to sculpt into art. Some 800,000 weapons have been collected since the CCM launched this project, called Transforming Guns into Hopes. The name is inspired by a Bible verse from the book of Micah: 'They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks'. Mabunda is a partner artist of the African Artists for Development, an organisation that backs community development projects associated with works by contemporary artists.

• Name — Gonçalo Mabunda • Born — 1 January 1975 • Birthplace — Maputo, Mozambique • Notable Works — Arms into Art, Throne of an African King

• Illustration — Part of an art installation by Gonçalo Mabunda at the Biennale in Venice, Italy. Mabunda uses Kalashnikovs, rockets, pistols, and shell casing in order to make anthropomorphic figures out of the deconstructed weapons. By turning weapons into lifelike figures, Mabunda literally turns death into life. The figurines are also representative of the over 1 million people killed during his country's civil war. Mabunda has also lost relatives during the war, which makes working with and deconstructing weapons used during the 16-year war more important for him. He makes thrones and masks out of these deactivated weapons used during the Mozambique Civil War. The masks are based on traditional Sub-Saharan African masks, however, the original twist on the art form by creating them out of weapons is unique to Mabunda. Representing power, Mabunda's thrones mock how the traditional power rests on weapons. By using weapons, Mabunda's work carries the message of how further violence can be prevented, and that destroying the weapons of war can be done in an aesthetic and artistic way. Mabunda's art directly challenges the absurdity of war. His work has a modernist style to it and has been compared to the work of Braque and Picasso.