Make Music, Not War

Last Sunday, Nicole and I stumbled upon a music performance at the National Gallery of Victoria conducted with instruments made from weapons - guns, magazines, a pith helmet... Kind of creepy, dark, and beautiful, all at once.

Brought to Melbourne as part of the Melbourne Festival, Disarm is an orchestra set made by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes.

The weapons are a collection confiscated by the Mexican government, and now make music.

The drum kit is made from all pistol pieces.

A saxophone made from the long barrel of a shotgun. The flute was a shotgun, too.

The guitars is fashioned from many ammunition magazines, and barrels of shotguns.

Last weekend Melbourne improv group Make It Up Club played with the collection of instruments for just over half an hour, to a packed space in the middle courtyard space. It was pretty impressive.

We actually went to the NGV for the Art Deco Fashion exhibit, which is really great and has just opened, but this show was a surprising bonus of the day.

Reyes has talked about making these instruments as a 'redemption of this metal' of weapons that have taken lives. Amazing.