New Right Livelihood Award Sculpture made from recycled illegal guns

Press releases 24.11.2020

2020 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” are set to be honoured on December 3 in a live virtual Award Presentation. The new Award Sculpture they are receiving has been created by internationally renowned sculptor Eva Hild from Sweden using Humanium Metal by IM, a unique material made of recycled metal from gun destruction programmes in Central America.

“I was very happy to receive the request to create the new Right Livelihood Award Sculpture, and it is a great honor for me to be involved. The weight of the hard, metallic material with its history of violence and destruction creates a big contrast to the thin, soft and organic forms in my work. It has been very exciting to create the new Award Sculpture,” says Eva Hild.

Hild is hailed as one of Sweden’s foremost sculptors and has exhibited her works in Hong Kong, New York and Paris. This spring, Hild, who usually works in clay and large formats, agreed to create the new Right Livelihood Award Sculpture pro bono.

Gun violence is a global problem. To tackle this, the organisation IM Swedish Development Partner launched the Humanium Metal initiative in 2016, which aims to decrease gun violence and build inclusive and peaceful societies. The metal from seized firearms is melted and molded into units, called Humanium Metal, which are then made available for commercial production. The revenues go back to communities affected by gun violence. Humanium Metal is sometimes referred to as “the most valuable metal in the world” as the destruction of guns contributes to removing weapons from the streets and saving lives. To date, 6,000 guns have been recycled as part of the project.

“Every day, around 2,000 people are injured by gun violence in non-conflict areas around the world. Right Livelihood Laureates advance justice, peace and sustainability, so creating the new Award Sculpture from melted, illegal guns is a perfect match. We are delighted that Eva Hild agreed to engage with our work by creating the new Sculpture,” says Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Foundation.

Complex shapes, openings and looped lines are recurring themes for Hild, who often starts from a void in her creative process. These characteristics can also be seen in the new Right Livelihood Award Sculpture, which will be presented at a virtual event hosted out of Stockholm on 3 December. The 2020 Laureates to be celebrated are human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh (Iran), civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson (USA), indigenous land rights activist Lottie Cunningham Wren (Nicaragua) and pro-democracy activist Ales Bialiatksi and his organization Viasna (Belarus).

Watch a short video about the new Award Sculpture here.

Read more about the 2020 Laureates here.

Press photos and video material can be found here.

 

For further information, please contact:

International media: Emoke Bebiak, emoke.bebiak@rightlivelihood.org, +41 78 333 84 84

German media: Julia Naumann and Nina Tesenfitz, presse@rightlivelihood.org, +49 (0)170 5763 663

Spanish media: Nayla Azzinnari, nayla@rightlivelihood.org, +54 9 11 5460 9860

Swedish media: Johannes Mosskin, johannes@rightlivelihood.org, +46 70 437 11 48

 

Media contacts

Emoke Bebiak

English, French & International Media

E-mail: emoke.bebiak@rightlivelihood.org
Phone: +41 (0)78 333 84 84

Nayla Azzinnari

Spanish Media

E-mail: nayla@rightlivelihood.org
Phone: +54 9 11 5460 9860

Nina Tesenfitz

German Media

E-mail: presse@rightlivelihood.org
Phone: +49 (0)170 5763 663

Johannes Mosskin

Swedish Media

E-mail: johannes@rightlivelihood.org
Phone: +46 (0)70 437 11 48