Hundreds of weapons that have been used to kill, maim and commit heinous crimes will be converted into sculptures.
The project involves 875 weapons of various types, including grenade launchers, confiscated over recent months by soldiers garrisoned in Jalisco’s 15th Military Zone.
The weapons were made inoperable at a ceremony held this week in Zapopan, before being handed over to artist Álvaro Cuevas, who has created similar works of art in other Mexican states. He is the president of Asociación Todos Dejamos Huella, an NGO dedicated to societal change through cultural expression. Some examples of his previous sculptures were exhibited to the media at the ceremony.
“Before now, there was no specific program (to dispose of these weapons),” said Moisés Horacio Colunga Castillo, commander of the Engineering Battalion of the 15th Military Zone. “They would be burned and buried under thick concrete.”