IT is not every day that the efforts of a police operation end up in an art gallery.
But a WA police crackdown on weapons has inspired a creative new exhibition at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries.
Of Spears and Pruning Hooks II has taken a donation of confiscated weapons and used both local and international artists to create artworks made from the seized items.
South West District Superintendent Peter Hatch said the exhibition comes to Bunbury on the back of Operation Gun Safe which has been running in Busselton since June.
“South West police have been conducting an operation to ensure the 1400 licensed firearms in Busselton are appropriately stored,” he said.
“Some of the owners decide they need better security or that they no longer require their weapon and surrender it.”
Superintendent Hatch said the operation would start in Busselton and would spread to other towns in the South West in the coming months.
“We are educating people to store their firearms correctly and ensuring the security of our streets,” he said.
“It is great to see the weapons of violence being turned into artwork for display.”
The artworks are available for purchase with a percentage of the sales being donated to Bright Blue, the Police Commissioner’s charity for sick children, which has raised $1.25 million since 2010.
The exhibition starts on Friday and will be open to the public every day from 10am to 4pm for the month of September.
