Weapons being made into art as country heals from war
1. Man handing in weapons to the Transforming Arms into Ploughshares/Christian Council of Mozambique (TAE/CCM) offices
2. CCM vehicle driving off with weapons
3. Bicycle being given as exchange for weapons handed to CCM
4. Weapons being destroyed with saw
5. Artists at work at the 'Nucleo de Arte'
6. Various of artist Goncalo Mabunda welding old bits of weaponry into artwork
7. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese): Goncalo Mabunda, Artist:
From the time when we transform it into a work of art, it creates a situation where people can reflect. When they reflect they ask why things are like this. It's a way of showing something that yesterday was used to kill can be used today to promote peace. Our spirit of thinking is transforming something that used to kill into something beautiful.
8. Cutaway of 'The Model' piece
9. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese): Goncalo Mabunda, Artist:
I call this piece 'The Model', which represents her beautiful hair and body, her movement, models have a certain way of walking, a certain way of behaving. For me there's no relation to the war.
10. National Coordinator of Transforming Arms into Ploughshares/Christian Council of Mozambique (TAE/CCM) project Mr Boaventura Zita walking into the CCM office
11. SOUNDBITE (English): Boaventura Zita, National Coordinator TAE/CCM project :
'They will pound their swords and their spears into rakes and shovels. They will never again make war or attack one nation.' So based on this passage (from the Bible), CCM started peace education with the aim of disarming minds and hands to create the conditions for peace.
12. Cutaway of 'The Model' piece
13. SOUNDBITE (English): Boaventura Zita, National Coordinator TAE/CCM project :
One theory in chemistry - that nothing is lost in nature, there is qualitative and quantitative transformation. So in the same sense for the church, the weapons that destroyed and killed people was transformed to be symbolic of beauty, of reconciliation.
14. Goncalo with his 'Freedom' piece
15. Close up of chained hands on 'Freedom' piece,
16. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese): Goncalo Mabunda, Artist:
I call this piece 'Freedom', which is a strange concept because I call it freedom but for example it is chained. In my concept, freedom is what he has in his mind, because even though he is chained, it doesn't mean he is not free, because freedom is what he able to think, expressing his opinions.
17. 'Helicopter' piece
18. Goncalo with 'Helicopter' piece
19. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese): Goncalo Mabunda, Artist:
Because I always have a concept in my work which is to make things contrary. In this case I make it contrary because, everyone, when they see a helicopter, they immediately think of the concept of war. I was inspired by a situation when there were floods here, we had to wait for helicopters from South African police to come here and save people who were in need at that time. I remembered that during the war there were many helicopters but when the time came when we needed helicopters to save lives, we didn't have them any more.
20. One of Goncalo Mabunda's pieces
LEAD IN :
Mozambique is recovering from two wars - the war of liberation from 1964 to 1974 and the civil war from 1976 to 1992.
Not only was this a period of death and destruction but after peace was announced the country was awash with weapons.
Innovative ways have, however, been found to deal with the weapons which many people still own.
The Christian Council of Mozambique, or CCM, in collaboration with the Mozambican government, has taken inspiration from the Bible to deal with the piles of armaments leftover from the war.
They are turned into artworks.
STORYLINE:
The Transforming Arms into Ploughshares project is run out of the CCM office in Maputo.
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