“The purpose was to transform the negative energy of destruction into the positive energy of creation,” said Ukrainian designer Stanislav Drokin, who turns shrapnel into fine jewellery from his whimsical, functional home studio in war-torn Kharkiv.
Deminers in Bunia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Here are just a few:
- In Colombia, even before the decades-old war ended, jewellery designers produced collections crafted from bullet casings, with some continuing to this day
- In Cambodia, remnants of half-century-old brass bombshells are being salvaged by an association and incorporated into jewellery to promote peace
- In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), retrieved bullet casings and AK47 machine gun are being integrated into wristwatches and wedding bands
- In Israel and Palestine, some of the tens of thousands of fallen bombs and rockets are now mezuzahs, statues, necklaces and charms