Interesting Facts
Although made out of weapons of destruction (crime and military), the Gun Sculpture’s message is one of peace, proactively engaging visitors on issues of peace and violence.
The Gun Sculpture Installation has three elements: the Gun Sculpture; the victim projections (and/or mural) and an interactive blackboard to collect and document visitor engagement
As the artists are civilians, it took Ministerial approval from five separate Departments in the Canadian Government to be allowed to create a work using deactivated weapons donated from inside and outside Canada
Over 8000 weapons were deactivated and donated to the project. South Africa, Nicaragua, South Korea and Spain were the first non-Canadian organizations to donate deactivated guns. Many countries that were unable to donate firearms due to export policy restrictions sent strong letters of support.
Guns came from NGO’s, military, police, governments and student groups around the world
The artists personally deactivated over 4000 weapons across Canada
Over 7000 guns were used in the sculpture, and weighs five tons
The artists devised a completely new technique of deactivating guns which is now used by numerous military and police forces
The Gun Sculpture has toured to three continents and has been seen by over 1.75 million people
Over 150,000 visitor contributions have been documented and are considered an evolving component of the art installation
Numerous artists have used the Gun Sculpture as a stimulus for artwork in various disciplines (symphony, drawings, poetry, etc.)
At each exhibit, if requested, the artists incorporate images of local victims of violence into the victims component
Dr Steven Aung, recognized healer and Buddhist elder, conducted a spiritual water and fire blessing of the Gun Sculpture, supporting the artwork with its intended message of peace to the world
Parallel to the making of the Gun Sculpture the artists mentored a small group of young people to create their own anti violence initiative called the Red Tear. The artists and group eventually formed the iHuman Society: an arts based program for Edmonton’s most marginalized youth with high risk lifestyles.
The Gun Sculpture Installation could not have been made without strong support from dedicated volunteers, families and NGOs sharing victims images of violence, the global donations of deactivated guns, local business material and service donations, the Govt of Canada, the Govt of Alberta and the City of Edmonton grants and logistical support, the Canadian Armed Forces and so many others who offered moral and logistical support of all kinds.