http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/...455.0.tree_of_guns_grow_at_british_museum.php
By Martina Smit
A half-tonne sculpture made out of chopped up guns used in the Mozambique
civil war has arrived at the British Museum.
The three-metre-high "Tree of Life" was unveiled yesterday as part of the
Africa 2005 season of cultural events in London.
Four Mozambican artists spent three months to create the work from
decommissioned weapons such as AK47s, pistols and rocket-propelled grenade
launchers. To them, their art is a way to promote peace.
During the 16-year civil war, the brother of artist Fiel dos Santos was
kidnapped by rebels and imprisoned for six years. "It was difficult for me,"
he remembers. "No news, no nothing."
From its roots to its fruit, the tree symbolises life, says 32-year-old Dos
Santos. "You are born, you grow up, you develop, you make kids."
The sculpture asks people to replace war and death with growth, he adds. The
war is over in Mozambique, but elsewhere it carries on. "It is a message to
the world to stop the guns and to create new life for many people."
The guns used in the creation are among more than 600,000 weapons collected
in the past nine years by Transforming Arms into Tools. The project,
supported by Christian Aid, exchanges weapons for equipment such as sewing
machines, bicycles and building materials.
Another gun sculpture, "Throne of weapons" by Mozambican artist Kester, will
tour to many UK museums over the next year. In a first for the British
Museum, the chair made out of assault rifles will also be shown in schools,
churches and shopping centres.
Museum director Neil McGregor hopes the "wonderful symbol of reconciliation"
will fuel debate not only about Africa, but also on UK gun crime.
The museum's Africa programme also includes two exhibitions to remind people
of their prehistoric roots.
In the "Made in Africa" display, visitors can pick up some of the oldest
man-made objects in the world: hand-axes from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
"You realise that your hand is the same as the one it was made for,"
McGregor says.
The "Swiss army knife" of two million years ago was a smooth stone with one
sharp edge, explains curator Jill Cook. It could be used to cut meat, chop
wood and scrape animal skin clean on the inside.
A 1.4-million-year-old hand-axe made out of translucent quarts shows
mankind's pleasure in unnecessary yet beautiful things. It had taken arduous
work to shape the stone, one of the hardest on earth.
The hand-axe was "the most successful tool in human history", Cook says.
When mankind emigrated from Africa, they took it with them, using it for the
next 1.5 million years. "Without it, we wouldn't have the computer now."
The "Wealth of Africa" exhibition reveals the strange forms of African
money, from raffia cloth to huge copper crosses.
Nigerians used copper alloy bracelets, or manilas, as currency up to the
1940s. Because the local people did not value European coins, manilas were
made in Britain and taken there for trade.
The pennies of the West African Kissi people were long, thin strips of
twisted metal, with a flat head at its top and a sharp spike at the bottom.
The Kissi believed each strip had a soul. If it broke, a blacksmith had to
repair it before they could use it again. "Money in Africa meant a lot more
than just currency," says curator Katie Eagleton.
The museum will also host a major conference on African Art on 11 to 12
February, as well as a lecture by popular Senegalese singer Baaba Maal on 10
February.
Africa 2005 is more than a celebration of art, McGregor says. "We wanted to
change the way we all engage with African culture."
a.. The "Tree of Life" will be on show at the British Museum until 23 April.
"Made in Africa" runs until 3 April and "Wealth of Africa" until 26 June.
By Martina Smit
A half-tonne sculpture made out of chopped up guns used in the Mozambique
civil war has arrived at the British Museum.
The three-metre-high "Tree of Life" was unveiled yesterday as part of the
Africa 2005 season of cultural events in London.
Four Mozambican artists spent three months to create the work from
decommissioned weapons such as AK47s, pistols and rocket-propelled grenade
launchers. To them, their art is a way to promote peace.
During the 16-year civil war, the brother of artist Fiel dos Santos was
kidnapped by rebels and imprisoned for six years. "It was difficult for me,"
he remembers. "No news, no nothing."
From its roots to its fruit, the tree symbolises life, says 32-year-old Dos
Santos. "You are born, you grow up, you develop, you make kids."
The sculpture asks people to replace war and death with growth, he adds. The
war is over in Mozambique, but elsewhere it carries on. "It is a message to
the world to stop the guns and to create new life for many people."
The guns used in the creation are among more than 600,000 weapons collected
in the past nine years by Transforming Arms into Tools. The project,
supported by Christian Aid, exchanges weapons for equipment such as sewing
machines, bicycles and building materials.
Another gun sculpture, "Throne of weapons" by Mozambican artist Kester, will
tour to many UK museums over the next year. In a first for the British
Museum, the chair made out of assault rifles will also be shown in schools,
churches and shopping centres.
Museum director Neil McGregor hopes the "wonderful symbol of reconciliation"
will fuel debate not only about Africa, but also on UK gun crime.
The museum's Africa programme also includes two exhibitions to remind people
of their prehistoric roots.
In the "Made in Africa" display, visitors can pick up some of the oldest
man-made objects in the world: hand-axes from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
"You realise that your hand is the same as the one it was made for,"
McGregor says.
The "Swiss army knife" of two million years ago was a smooth stone with one
sharp edge, explains curator Jill Cook. It could be used to cut meat, chop
wood and scrape animal skin clean on the inside.
A 1.4-million-year-old hand-axe made out of translucent quarts shows
mankind's pleasure in unnecessary yet beautiful things. It had taken arduous
work to shape the stone, one of the hardest on earth.
The hand-axe was "the most successful tool in human history", Cook says.
When mankind emigrated from Africa, they took it with them, using it for the
next 1.5 million years. "Without it, we wouldn't have the computer now."
The "Wealth of Africa" exhibition reveals the strange forms of African
money, from raffia cloth to huge copper crosses.
Nigerians used copper alloy bracelets, or manilas, as currency up to the
1940s. Because the local people did not value European coins, manilas were
made in Britain and taken there for trade.
The pennies of the West African Kissi people were long, thin strips of
twisted metal, with a flat head at its top and a sharp spike at the bottom.
The Kissi believed each strip had a soul. If it broke, a blacksmith had to
repair it before they could use it again. "Money in Africa meant a lot more
than just currency," says curator Katie Eagleton.
The museum will also host a major conference on African Art on 11 to 12
February, as well as a lecture by popular Senegalese singer Baaba Maal on 10
February.
Africa 2005 is more than a celebration of art, McGregor says. "We wanted to
change the way we all engage with African culture."
a.. The "Tree of Life" will be on show at the British Museum until 23 April.
"Made in Africa" runs until 3 April and "Wealth of Africa" until 26 June.
