Gonçalo Mabunda, born in 1975 in Maputo, makes statues and sculptures using weapons and (defused)  bullets of the civil war, a war that, between 1981 and 1994, caused about a million deaths of which 95% civilians.

His Peace Thrones are known all over the world . The seat is made with cartridge cases, the armrest is the butt of a rifle. I sat down on it, what an honor!

Gonçalo shows us his pictures with Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II: “I have also made a sculpture for the Vatican. I have been to Italy. ”

He tells us that now he lives permanently in Maputo and he  mostly deals with poor children in his neighborhood, he teaches them welding and metalworking. And even as we are speaking on the terrace, he scolds a boy who is crossing the street without looking.

The masks and sculptures have an incredible power, you can feel the energy that surrounds them. I ask him how long it takes to create a work of art, he replies that it depends, it can take even weeks of work for some. We visit his workshop, outdoors, there are pieces of metal everywhere. He explains to us that the weapons are defused by an NGO of Maputo: when they are ready, he goes to pick them up.

Gonçalo has a young face, he does not show his 40 years, he has a damaged eye, probably from  the sparks of a welding, he has charisma, laughs, jokes and he insists to take us to get a drink.

Why not …

(For more information on Gonçalo Mabunda http://www.jackbellgallery.com/artists/29-Gon%C3%A7alo-Mabunda/overview/, https://www.facebook.com/goncalo.mabunda .

To see his works type Gonçalo Mabunda Google images).