Gonçalo Mabunda was born in Mozambique in 1975.
Medium: Sculpture made from weapons
Materials: AK-47s, land mines, rocket launchers, soldiers’ boots and helmets, tanks
On his artistic mission: “Trying to represent each [person] who died with this same material … If we destroy the weapons, the same weapon’s not going to kill any more.”
Controversy: In September 2015, U.S. customs officials in Philadelphia confiscated a throne made by Mabunda, crafted from decommissioned weapons of war. Adam Solow, a collector, was attempting to purchase the work from Mozambique. Solow said of the work: “Besides having a practical value — removing weapons from the social landscape of his country — [the thrones] also comment on the absurdity of war, national memory, and reconciliation in his country.”
