escopetarra

The escopetarra was invented by Colombian peace activist César López in 2003 at a gathering after the El Nogal Club bombing in Bogotá, when he noticed a soldier holding a firearm like a guitar.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5033626.stm Colombian musicians organise online], BBC News, 1 June 2006 The first escopetarra in 2003 was made from a Winchester rifle and a Stratocaster electric guitar.Making music out of menace: A Colombian musician has fashioned guitars out of rifles to help spread a message of peace. Miami Herald, March 7, 2006

López initially had five escopetarras built by Colombian luthier Alberto Paredes, four of which were given to Colombian musician Juanes, Argentine musician Fito Páez, the United Nations Development Program, and the city government of Bogotá, while one was kept for himself. Juanes later sold his escopetarra for US$17,000 at a Beverly Hills fundraiser held to benefit victims of anti-personnel mines,{{cite news|title=Escopetarras: disparando música|last=Latorre|first=Héctor|date=2006-01-24|accessdate=2007-01-31|publisher=BBC World|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_4644000/4644028.stm}} while the escopetarra given to the UN was exhibited at the June 2006 of the UN Conference on Disarmament.{{cite news|title=La escopeta transformada en guitarra del músico César López será exhibida en la ONU|url=http://www.desarme.org/publique/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?sid=16&infoid=5025|last=Conte|first=Gabriel|publisher=Desarme.org|date=2006-06-15|accessdate=2007-01-31|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095508/http://www.desarme.org/publique/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?sid=16&infoid=5025|archivedate=2007-09-29}}

In 2006, López acquired an additional 12 decommissioned AK-47 assault rifles from Colombia's peace commissioner's office, with plans to convert them into guitars and give them to high-profile musicians such as Shakira, Carlos Santana, Juanes and Paul McCartney, as well as political figures such as the Dalai Lama. However, a member of the Dalai Lama's staff rejected López's offer, citing the inappropriateness of giving a weapon as a gift; López has said he will try to explain his purpose more clearly.{{cite news |last=Sites |first=Kevin |url=http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs3860;_ylt=AtqLBf1cY4xDT9Yr.HLpoSqLFMsF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjM3FjYjBzBHNlYwNibG9nLXN1bQ-- |publisher=Yahoo! News |title=Killer Sound |date=2006-04-24 |accessdate=2007-01-31 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311165049/http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs3860%3B_ylt%3DAtqLBf1cY4xDT9Yr.HLpoSqLFMsF%3B_ylu%3DX3oDMTBjM3FjYjBzBHNlYwNibG9nLXN1bQ-- |archivedate=March 11, 2007 }} One was also given to Kenyan singer Eric Wainaina on the occasion of the UNODC's 2008 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, to honour his appointment as a UNODC Messenger of Non-Violence.{{cite web|url=http://www.unicnairobi.org/wainaina.asp|title=Eric Wainaina receives a symbol of peace from the U.N|publisher=U.N. Information Centre in Nairobi|accessdate=28 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904221528/http://www.unicnairobi.org/Wainaina.asp|archive-date=4 September 2012|url-status=dead}}

{{Citation needed span|text=An escopetarra was presented by César López on 23 September 2012 to the President of Guatemala General Otto Peréz Molina at the Estadio Mateo Flores in an event called "Jóvenes por la Paz." The event gathered 20,000 people advocating for peace in Guatemala. After the presentation of the escopetarra, the President of Guatemala gave the order to destroy thousands of weapons that had been confiscated. The message of the event was "Dale a la Música y No a la Violencia" (make music and not violence)|date=September 2012}}

• During the 1980s, Pete Tosh of Jamaican reggae group The Wailers played a guitar built around an M16 assault rifle.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Tosh-s-famous-M16-guitar-being-kept--br--by-friend_8613195 |title=Finding Tosh's M16 |access-date=2016-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408032421/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/Entertainment/Tosh-s-famous-M16-guitar-being-kept--br--by-friend_8613195 |archive-date=2011-04-08 |url-status=dead }} Finnish death metal guitarist Sami Lopakka plays a similar instrument, known as the Lopashnikov.[http://www.kypck-doom.com/lopashnikov.htm Kursk Doom]

• An AK-47-Cello hybrid similar to an escopeterra was used as the concept art for the 2011 album Symphony Soldier by the Cab.

• Swords to ploughshares

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.elmundo.es/cultura/2015/02/21/54e7a773ca4741986d8b457d.html Arte para coser la herida], article at El Mundo (Colombian newspaper)
• [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/colombia-dispatch-7-turning-guns-into-guitars-88180366/ Colombia Dispatch 7: Turning Guns into Guitars], at Smithsonian
• [http://www.unodc.org/newsletter/en/perspectives/no03/page008.html Escopetarra: Instrument of peace], article at UNDOC

Category:Firearms

Category:Peace monuments and memorials