Non-Violence — V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd · Bronze sculpture
Non-Violence, also known as the Knotted Gun, is Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s sculpture of a revolver with its barrel tied into a knot. The V&A Waterfront’s public-art account places the Cape Town work outside Radisson RED in the Silo District. It is one local installation of an artwork represented in multiple locations worldwide.
By Artists Village. Published 2026-10-20; sources reviewed 2026-10-20. Source-based guide, not a field visit.
What does the knotted gun represent?
The sculpture uses an immediately recognisable object and makes its intended operation impossible: the barrel of the revolver forms a knot. The Waterfront’s interpretation presents this as a direct statement against violence. The visual contradiction is central to the work, rather than a depiction of a functioning weapon or a technical demonstration.
The Non-Violence Project Foundation connects Reuterswärd’s creation to the murder of John Lennon and describes it as a tribute to a peaceful world. That account explains the artwork’s origin and wider meaning; it does not date the installation of the particular Cape Town example. A global history and a local display history are related but distinct questions.
Is Cape Town’s sculpture the same one as the United Nations work?
The design is represented by sculptures in multiple places. The foundation describes a bronze installation outside United Nations Headquarters in 1988 and a wider international presence. Cape Town’s Waterfront article identifies its own local example. Seeing the same title and form in different cities is therefore not evidence that a single sculpture has travelled between all of them.
For a local visit, the relevant source is the Waterfront’s description of the Silo District placement. For the work’s symbolic history and the continuing non-violence initiative, the foundation is the more direct source. We cite both rather than using the history of one version as proof of the casting date, dimensions, or ownership of another.
How does it fit into the Silo District?
The Waterfront’s Art in Public Places article discusses Non-Violence alongside works that address play, industrial machinery, and still-life composition. That setting creates an opportunity to compare different kinds of public sculpture: an easily read emblem of peace can share a district with work that is more abstract or tied to the site’s working history.
The same article identifies Young Sailors by Sanell Aggenbach alongside Zeitz MOCAA and Angular Mass by Michele Mathison outside Southern Guild. It places Gavin Younge’s Still Life with Ice Cream Cone and Blue Cheese in the West Garden. These are published placement descriptions from 2023, not a field-verified route for today. Use them as questions for the current visitor service rather than assuming every work remains exactly where the article placed it.
What should I look for?
Our suggested approach is to consider the silhouette first: identify the point where the familiar object becomes impossible. Then move only within the permitted pedestrian area to see how the knot reads from another angle. The idea remains simple, but the relationship between a rounded knot, a straight barrel, and the rest of the object changes with viewpoint.
Compare the experience of encountering it in a busy public place with seeing a photograph in a campaign or an article. Public context can make the image an interruption in an ordinary day. This is an invitation to look and reflect, not a claim that the sculpture must produce one emotional response or that visitors should touch or climb it.
Visiting details
The Waterfront’s public-art article, dated 12 June 2023, describes this as an outdoor work outside Radisson RED in the Silo District. Confirm the current location with the Waterfront if making a special trip.
The stored OpenStreetMap point and the venue’s textual description are separate sources. Use the named landmark and the Waterfront’s current wayfinding if the precise pin appears inconsistent.
The Waterfront describes its open-air public art as free to enjoy. Nearby museums, parking, transport, and paid attractions have separate arrangements.
Find this work in the Cape Town directoryQuestions about Non-Violence
Who created Non-Violence?
The Waterfront and the Non-Violence Project Foundation attribute the Knotted Gun design to Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd.
Where is the Cape Town installation?
The Waterfront’s public-art article places it outside Radisson RED in the Silo District. That article was published in 2023; check current wayfinding or the visitor service before a special trip.
Is an art-museum ticket required?
The Waterfront describes its open-air public art as free to enjoy. This does not include admission to nearby museums or other paid attractions.
Sources and images
The linked primary sources contain photographs and further context. Images are not reproduced here; their copyright is separate from the facts summarized in this guide.
- https://www.waterfront.co.za/articles/art-in-public-places
- https://nonviolence.com/about/the-knotted-gun/
- https://www.waterfront.co.za/plan-your-visit
- https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/4210698391
Plan the rest of your visit
Exploring public art at the V&A Waterfront · Cape Town city guide · Cape Town art map