Iraqis Turning Guns, Mortars Into Works Of Art

A flower base made from the barrel of a machinegun and other pieces of destroyed weapons is shown at the Iraqi Mine/Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Clearance Organisation gallery in Baghdad January 12, 2009. Picture taken January 12, 2009. REUTERS/May Naji

From Reuters:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A dragonfly fashioned from a machine gun barrel and a rifle butt carved into the portrait of an ancient Egyptian queen are just a few of the works Iraqi artists are making from weapons of war.

Graduates of Baghdad University's College of Fine Arts say the project they started late last year takes objects that have brought devastation to Iraq and uses them to create instead.

"It's a message from Baghdad to the world: we are transforming pieces of destruction into pieces of art," said sculptor Haider Muwafaq, laying down a blow torch he used to turn steel bars into an abstract model of an old Baghdad neighborhood.

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