Non-Violence, also known as The Knotted Gun, is a bronze sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd of an oversized Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with its barrel tied in a knot. It is located at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
History Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd made this sculpture after the murder of John Lennon, with whom Reuterswärd was acquainted. When learning of the murder he stayed up all night to work on the piece, inspired by the idea of making a knot on the firearm the murderer Mark David Chapman had used. He had previously done pieces of knotted pencils, such as Medium’s Memory in Kristianstad in 1977. During 1980-1981 Reuterswärd did one prototype of a life size firearm in plaster and one in bronze. These are now kept in the collection of Museum of Sketches for Public Art in Lund.
The oversized public version of the piece was planned for John Lennon’s memorial Strawberry Fields in Central Park. This sculpture was made 1984, but when the memorial was opened in 1985 Reuterswärd opted not to have it placed there, citing fears it would be stolen. In 1988, the Luxembourg government bought and donated it to the United Nations. The sculpture was moved right outside of the headquarters of the UN.Martin Chilton, Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, sculptor of knotted revolver peace symbol, dies, Telegraph.co.uk, 4 May 2016 Here it was interpreted not only a memorial for John Lennon, but as a symbol against violence and war anywhere in the world.
Following the unveiling of the original sculpture, Reuterswärd did a range of replicas of Non Violence for places around the world, numbering about 30 sculptures. About half of these are in Sweden.
Aside from the public pieces, Reuterswärd made plenty of variations of the sculpture in smaller or life sized scale. In 2012 he donated a collection of pieces like this to the city museum in Landskrona.
Since 1993, the sculpture has been the symbol of The Non-Violence Project (NVPF), a nonprofit organization that promotes social change through violence-prevention education programs. In 2011, Ringo Starr unveiled his own brightly colored version of The Knotted Gun that he created.Adam Sherwin, And then there were four: Ringo picks up his paintbrush, Independent.co.uk, 9 December 2011 Later, more colour versions were made by Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and other celebrities.
For the 30th anniversary of the sculpture, the NVPF and the art dealer Hansen Fine Art launched a foot-long version of the sculpture sold online.Anna Harstedt, Celebrating the iconic Knotted Gun sculpture at the United Nations in NYC, 30 years later , Metro.us, 4 October 2018 The United Nations Postal Administration issued three stamps depicting the sculpture.Denise McCarty, U.N.'s new Knotted Gun stamp designs, Linns.com, 25 September 2018 In 2019, the NVPF worked with the Dalai Lama to make 150 small-scale Non-Violence sculptures from melted confiscated firearms (Humanium Metal), including one copy signed by the Dalai Lama and auctioned at Sotheby's.Ben Paynter, They’re recreating this classic anti-gun-violence sculpture with metal from melted-down guns, Fastcompany.com, 10 January 2019
Locations
There are currently more than 30 copies of the sculpture around the world. They are located in places such as : N° Country Photo City Location Since 1 Malmö Bagers plats 1992 2 Stockholm Sergelgatan 1995 3 Gothenburg Kungsportsavenyen 1997 4 Gothenburg Göteborgs Högre Samskola Stampgatan 5 Gothenburg Göteborgs Högre Samskola Föreningsgatan 6 Borås Anna Lindh park 7 Lund The Museum of Sketches 2005 8 Täby, Stockholm County Täby Centrum station 1998 9 Fittja, Stockholm County Fittja metro station 1998 10 Stockholm Stockholm School of Economics 1998 11 Stockholm Sven-Harry's Art Museum 1998 12 Stockholm Åkeshov metro station 1998 13 Halmstad Brogatan 2014 14 Halmstad AJ Produkter Headquarter. TransportvägenA blog entry dedicated to the firearm with the knot on the barrel, Travelblog.org, 31 July 2011 15 Tällberg Green Hotel. Ovabacksgattu 17 16 Landskrona Kasernplan 17 (original piece) New York City Headquarters of the United Nations 1988 18 Kirchberg Parc Central 19 Beijing Chaoyang Park 20 Nanjing 1865 Creative Park 21 Berlin Federal Chancellery 22MarlCreiler Platz1999 23 Caen Mémorial de Caen 2005 24 Lausanne Olympic Museum 1997 26 Cape Town Victoria & Alfred Waterfront 26 Naucalpan Mexipuerto Shopping Mall at Cuatro Caminos metro station 27 Mexico City 683 Calle Ferrocarril de Cuarnavaca, Polanco 28 Chennai Perambur, ICF 29 Rukhi Senaki - Leselidze Highway 30 Beirut Seafront 2018 31 (Northern Ireland) Belfast Girdwood Community HubGift from the Olsson familyJohn Donohoe, The Knotted Gun, symbol of peace, erected in Belfast, Maethchronicle.ie, 16 September 2019 2019 32 Mariehamn Självstyrelseparken, Mariehamn. Gift from Anders Wiklöf 2022
See also International Day of Non-Violence Nonviolence
References