He successfully turned a cannon into a cello
Serbian artist turns murder weapons into musical instruments
Makura made a guitar out of a Zastava M70 rifle.
A.F.B.
Every week, the Serbian sculptor, Nicola Makura, wanders around a yard of military remnants in search of sounds.
Searching through discarded rifles, helmets and rockets, he hits ancient weapons with his fingers to find pieces that he can take to his studio and turn them into musical instruments.
The 42-year-old is trying to turn these former tools of destruction into a means of creativity in a region that still bears scars from the wars of the 1990s that devastated Yugoslavia.
He successfully converted a cannon and a military gas flask into a cello machine, made a guitar from a Zastava M70 rifle and a helmet for the Yugoslav army, and he collected a violin from a machine gun and a first aid box, among other things.
"Guns surround us everywhere ... we are so surrounded by devastation that we no longer notice it," said Makura, an assistant professor at the Novi Sad Academy of Art in northern Serbia.
There is an enormous number of materials that can be used.
Since the end of successive wars, selling out of service military equipment for a pittance has become a common sight all over the country.
These "graves" contain rifles, bombs, and gas masks, as well as combat vehicles, radars, and even huge pieces of warplanes.
The goal of the sculptor is to create a full-fledged orchestra that will roam the region and perform musicals with the presence of ex-combatants in the group.
"I want to give those who participated in the war an opportunity to use the weapons they used in the war to create music," he said.
He brought in the plastic artist and former warrior Srdjan Sarovi, who loves to play the guitar made with a rifle and a helmet.
"This rifle is exclusively transformed into a musical instrument," Sarovic told "AFP."
When I hold it in my hand and play it, I only worry about how to match it to the instrument. ”
Macura's next project is to turn a military tank into a percussion instrument for five musicians, which he plans to paint in pink.
He concluded with a laugh: “He made a musical instrument from a tank!
"It's like making a musical instrument from a gun - it's impossible."
The goal of the sculptor is to create a full orchestra with the participation of ex-combatants.
Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news