A HUGE painting of an AK-47 – snapped in two – on the paving slabs of the Grand Parade is a reminder that war and violence won’t have the last word.
This is according to Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
“This shows us all that peace is possible,” he said at the official unveiling on Sunday of the painting, Resistance, executed in wheat paste across 100m of paving.
The work is aimed at highlighting the global arms trade.
It features an AK-47 rifle, wrapped in a combination of world currencies, broken by a pair of hands. It is an update on the original logo of the anti-war organisation War Resisters International (WRI).
It is meant to highlight the global arms trade.
A small crowd, including Tutu, artist Ralph Ziman, who conceptualised the design, and anti-arms activist Terry Crawford-Browne, gathered at the site.
Tutu walked across the artwork, still drying, which he labelled a “fantastic undertaking”.
He said: “It’s quite important to remind us that violence and war will not have the last word. It is peace and co-operation and working together and holding hands – these are the things that ultimately matter in our world.
“With all that’s happening in Sudan and Syria, when God looks at us and the things we are doing, it is just awful.
“But this artwork is a signal of hope. It shows that there is sunshine behind the clouds. This says to all of us, peace is possible.”
Resistance was born from a series of conversations between Ziman and Crawford-Browne, who is a member of the WRI. The work took five days to put together.
The installation was initially planned to coincide with the World Summit Nobel Peace Laureate in Cape Town, which was shelved due to the government’s refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to visit, and the subsequent pulling out of the delegates.
Part of the design includes an image of the Dalai Lama’s face on a dompas, labelled ”second class citizen”. - Cape Times