Núcleo de Arte

Artist co-operative famous for its gun-metal sculptures made from civil-war weapons

The Núcleo de Arte is the country's oldest artists' co-operative, founded in 1936 and active continuously since the colonial period through the war years and beyond. The compound, in a rambling old house in upper Polana, includes studios, an outdoor garden bar, a small gallery and the ovens where the famous gun-metal sculptures are still produced.

Most evenings there is something on — an opening, live music, a poetry reading — and the garden is one of the best places in the city to have a cold beer and meet artists rather than expats. Daytime visitors can watch sculptors at work and buy pieces directly. Prices for the gun-metal sculptures are not cheap, but they are unique and the proceeds support the artists.

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A story
After the civil war ended in 1992, the **Transforming Arms into Tools** project collected an estimated 600,000 weapons in exchange for sewing machines, bicycles and roofing tin. The decommissioned rifles and pistols were handed to the Núcleo's sculptors, who cut and welded them into chairs, animals and figures. One of those pieces — a tree made entirely of gun parts — is now in the British Museum.

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