While they’re far from plowshares, a sculpture at the Military Museums in Calgary constructed completely out of decommissioned firearms will be sharing the same impact of the horrors of war.
Sandra Bromley’s Fire and Collateral: the Aftermath of War is one of two exhibitions opening in the Founders’ Gallery at The Military Museums this weekend.
Bromley’s work tells the tale of war from the people who were deeply affected including two former child soldiers, the mother of a former soldier, and a young girl forced into slavery.
Her massive sculptures built out of decommissioned firearms depict a physical reminder of the legacy of conflict.
Bromley’s website says that the Gun Sculpture weighs over five tons, and is composed of over 7,000 weapons of violence and war. It took two years to plan and five years to complete.
Visitors to the facility will also be able to check out another exhibit called (re)Constructed Warships.
In that exhibit, painters Richard Edwards and Chris Flodberg depict three-dimensional models of naval ships through variant methods.
Organizers of the exhibition say that both are sure to make visitors stop and think about war, past and present.
"The pieces in Fire and Collateral implore visitors to remember all of the legacies of conflicts, past and present, and not just those that are still fresh and in the headlines," explains Lindsey Sharman, Curator of Art at the Founders' Gallery, in a release. "(re)Constructed Warship features both meticulously crafted models of ships and totally fabricated ships. Showing these two very different approaches to the same subjects and issues creates a really interesting artistic juxtaposition."
The exhibition runs until July 1.
