Tree of Guns

Our 30-minute documentary for the BBC, Tree of Guns – about how weapons of war were used to create a symbol of peace in the Mozambican sculpture the Tree of Life, currently on display in the British Museum – was broadcast in February 2005.

The Tree of Life is a unique artwork formed wholly out of de-activated weapons. Commissioned especially by the British Museum, London, to form the centrepiece of their Africa 2005 season, the Tree is a personal and poignant articulation of the pain of Mozambique’s past and possibilities for the future.

The genesis for the Tree of Life lies in the inspirational Transforming Arms into Tools (TAE) project, established by the Mozambican church and supported by Christian Aid. Sixteen years of civil war in Mozambique ended in 1992, leaving a grim legacy of seven million weapons buried across the country and potentially available to be used again. TAE exchanges these weapons for tools and building materials, and then destroys them.

Four Mozambican artists – Fiel dos Santos, Kester, Hilário Nhatugueja and Adelino Mate – came together to work with TAE and to create the Tree. At just over 2 metres high, the sculpture weighs half a tonne and took three months to complete. British MP40s, Russian AK47s and US, Chinese and European weapons all went into its creation.

Tree of Guns documents the creation of the Tree from first sketches on paper, and follows its long journey from Southern Africa to the British Museum, providing a unique insight into how art is helping to create a climate of hope in Mozambique.

We have to make these arms into art. To free the future generations, to free the world, to free the people who might think of using guns – Kester

The tree is a key symbol in African culture. Trees protect us. When it’s hot we find the shade of a tree. When it’s harvest time we pick and eat the fruit. We sit together in the shade of a tree to resolve our problems, to ask the spirits to give us strength, and achieve a lasting peace – Hilário Nhatugueja

Watch a clip of the programme here.
Tree of Guns - 56k dial-up
Tree of Guns - broadband