I’ve been spending quite a lot of time looking at the British Museum website these past couple of months. I’ve nicked this graphic from Compass, their editor-selected presentation of 5000 significant pieces from the main collection.
Maputo, Mozambique, 2001
I love this thing, it’s called Throne of weapons and it’s made by “Transforming Arms into Tools”, an artists collective from Mozambique. In particular, I love this quite voyeuristic drawing created by the Museum to support the presentation of the artwork. By labelling each item of millitary hardware, this presentation graphic adds an extra dimension to the original. Apologies for gilding this particular lily (as the original is very sensible black and white)…
From the Compass TAE page
The throne is a product of the TAE project - Transformaçaõ de Armas em Enxadas (Transforming Arms into Tools) - whereby weapons previously used by combatants on both sides are voluntarily exchanged for agricultural, domestic and construction tools. The project was established in 1995 in Maputo by Bishop Dinis Sengulane of the Christian Council of Mozambique with the support of Christian Aid.
The British Museum website
The Compass section
The Throne of Weapons page