Gonçalo Mabunda records the collective memory of his country, Mozambique, which emerged from a long and terrible civil war in 1992. He creates traditional tribal masks and chieftains’ thrones constructed from the arms recovered at the end of the sixteen-year conflict that divided the region. Such tribal artifacts today are termed "power objects" in modern anthropology.

In his sculpture, he gives anthropomorphic forms to AK47s, rocket launchers, mortar bombs and other weapons of destruction. While the masks could be said to draw on a local history of traditional African art, Mabunda's work takes on a striking Modernist edge. The deactivated weapons of war carry strong political connotations, yet the powerful objects he creates also convey a positive reflection on the transformative power of art and the resilience and creativity of African societies.