Colombia Dispatch 7: Turning Guns into Guitars
Musician Cesar Lopez invented a new type of guitar, made from the shell of an automatic weapon
- By Kenneth Fletcher
- Smithsonian.com, October 29, 2008, Subscribe
Colombian musician Cesar Lopez had a moment of inspiration in 2002 when he noticed a soldier in Bogota holding his rifle the same way Lopez holds his guitar. "They are two objects that you carry the same way," he says, "But they mean two completely different things."
He decided to take weapons that had been used by guerrilla and paramilitary groups in Colombia's conflict and turn them into something positive. Lopez collaborates with luthier Alberto Paredes to create an unlikely guitar with a body made out of an inoperative gun. He calls it an "escopetarra", a hybrid between the Spanish words for guitar and shotgun. It's an instrument of peace, Lopez explains, that symbolizes a metamorphosis he hopes Colombia will undergo.
"A weapon represents intimidation, destruction, and death," he says. "A guitar means life, creativity, construction. They unite to create an object that symbolizes transformation. It's a symbol that anything can change."
The instrument has made a big impact. Lopez has now produced 17 escopetarras out of rifles and AK-47s, all weapons once used by illegal armed groups in Colombia's conflict and turned into the government voluntarily as part of the country's peace process. He's given them to everyone from Latin rock stars to museums. There is even one hanging at the United Nations building in New York.
I met up with Lopez at his home in Bogota, Colombia's capital, right after he played his escopetarra for diplomats and Bogotá's mayor at the launch of 2008's Peace Week. He lets me play his escopetarra, made out of an AK-47 that once belonged to paramilitary soldiers. The gun has been stripped of its innards, replaced with an electric guitar pickup and volume controls. The metal barrel is hidden inside the guitar's warm wooden neck and can never fire another shot. While Lopez says the instrument has a "history of pain," he makes it sing beautifully.
In 2006, Colombia's United Nations office against drugs and crime named Lopez its official "messenger of non violence." For this post, Lopez and his escopetarra travel around Colombia and as far away as the United States and Singapore to broadcast his message. He holds workshops in prisons and among youth living in poverty. He often brings the strange instrument to groups of former paramilitary and guerrilla soldiers who are trying to reintegrate into society. "You realize how they think," he says, "Some need to feel a weapon. Some have this idea that a weapon gives them power or makes them more brave or worthy. Sometimes through one conversation we knock down all of those beliefs."
Rehabilitating demobilized soldiers, scarred by violence and desperation, is key in Colombia's efforts to establish peace within its borders. The escopetarra is a metaphor for the process. "It has a great impact on demobilized fighters," Lopez tells me.
After years of violence and killing "they ask themselves whether they will be able to transform themselves and start a decent life. The escopetarra is an example. These guys were weapons too, and they have to learn how to deactivate that."
They usually start off holding the escopetarra like a gun, with finger on the trigger, but end up strumming the guitar and creating music. "Finally they realize that this is an exercise about transforming one thing into another," Lopez says. "If this weapon can change it's natural structure into something creative, then people can too."
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Comments (40)
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Long time subscriber.Some how missed this article.Does anyone remember when Jimi Hendrix turned his guitar into the sound of a machine gun on his song,Machine Gun.He was an Army paratrooper vet ,and also,anti war.Probably to late to post this but,what the heck.Pucntuation is probobly off. PEACE TO ALL !! Steve 8/23/11
Posted by coloradosteve on August 23,2011 | 03:10 PM
I think this is really cool. I love how he turned one object into a completely different object. I think that the fact that his instrument was made out of a gun is a symbol of struggle with war or just life. The message that I got out of this article is that music is always an answer to problems.
Posted by Claudia from Sra. Beckers class on February 15,2009 | 08:23 PM
I think this is a great idea. It shows how people can overcome all of the violence. In this case it shows how somthing as great as music can still live in troubled times. It is a real amazing way to sort of lessen a wars bad name
Posted by Lucas from Sra Beckers clas on February 12,2009 | 09:53 PM
This is pretty neat what the guy has done. I never would have thought to take weapons and make guitars. He's showing people that war isn't going to help anybody, so we should not try it in the firs place.
Posted by David on February 12,2009 | 09:23 AM
I found this article very interesting. How Lopez was inspired to create a guitar out of an assault rifle is beyond me. It is a symbol, a message of peace and better living conditions for everyone. People really can change their lives for the better. And for everyone else around them too.
Posted by Carlos from Sra. Becker's Class on February 12,2009 | 07:46 AM
I think that this man has great motivations for doing what he does. His guitar shows the recovering soldiers that they don't always have to be bad. It is a sign of hope for them and for anyone suffering from the violence. I think that this man chose a great way to get his message across.
Posted by Baltasar from Sra. Becker's class on February 11,2009 | 10:28 PM
This is a very interesting article indeed. I found it astonishing that you could even transform Kalashnikov into a musical instrument. It is really neat how he travels all around showing off this wonderful piece of artwork. I believe it is more inspiring that he even gave a couple of these guitars to demobilized soldiers. We should all learn from this man and apply his peace ideas into our daily lives.
Posted by Pepito Morrical i <3 Sra. Becker on February 11,2009 | 10:18 PM
I think that this is a really good way to turn something negative into something positive. This guy is really creative and smart to think of something like this. It shows that guns can be used for something other than violence.
Posted by Fabiana from Sra. Becker's class on February 11,2009 | 10:11 PM
THis was a very innovative, inspirational idea. I am a firm believer that words are a persons strongest weapon, so as an extension of that so are songs. To be so public and his want for peace was very brave, and I think that Ceasar has accomplished an amazing things with his escoterras. Hopefully, he and others alike will continue to stand as figures of peace and justice.
Posted by Bianca on February 11,2009 | 09:38 PM
This article is very heart warming. The fact that he can turn something that symbolizes violence and turn it into something that represents peace is just amazing! I think it is exactly what the people in this area need to see. They need to know that things can change, and his instrument is a way of showing them that. It is good for them to see how easily violence can be transformed into peace. It will give them hope that their lives can transform that easily as well.
Posted by Alicia from Senora Becker's Class on February 11,2009 | 01:34 PM
The way that Lopez used his creativity was very impressive. i wish i could think of ways to create new products by using old ones. this was a very good idea! the way he related his guns to how people can also change. im sure he is a great musician.
Posted by madison bradley on February 11,2009 | 12:15 PM
I really admire how the guitar was made for a reason and not just for fun. This makes people really love his ides because someone cares for those suffering. Guns and guitars are completely unrelated, and he found a way to combine the two. That takes quite an imagination.
Posted by Raul from Senora Becker's class on February 11,2009 | 12:05 PM
It is a very good way to show the transition between war and peace. I think it was an excellent idea to have the ex-guerilla fighters use the escopetarra to transition them into regular life again. I think it's good that he has gotten recognition for his contribution to the anti-violence cause because now he is more likely to continue on the path he is on. This really was an ingenious idea.
Posted by Antonio from Sra. Becker's class on February 11,2009 | 09:29 AM
This article can inspire change in all people suffering, not just the ones in Colombia. I think turning a gun into a guitar was a great idea to promote peace too. Lopez, i think, could inspire others to follow in his footsteps and make musical instruments out of other criminal or dangerous items. I think his "message of non-violence" is a great one and he should keep going and keep making these guitars as a sign of peace.
Posted by Carlos from Sra. Beckers class on February 11,2009 | 07:15 AM
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