THE WEAPONS' REPUTATION
An Investigation into the Geopolitics of Arms Trade

The Weapons’ Reputation questions the integrity of the arms trade as a legal transfer of weapons among countries. Any armament employed in crimes, conflicts, or wars (except for weapons of mass destruction) is categorised as a Conventional Weapon, and its use is regulated by International Humanitarian Law. The production, sale, and transfer of these armaments is structured like any other type of commerce, with standards, codes of conduct, and laws, which are not properly enforced. Underlining the lack of accountability of companies and governments, the project examines the ongoing conflict in Yemen through the type of weaponry employed. Who should be held responsible for the continuation of a war that has led to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and is fought with weapons manufactured in wealthy northern countries?

The research has been translated into a 17 minutes film, extended by a repository of weapons employed in the conflict, visualised as investigative case files.

www.cinziabongino.com/weapons-reputation ↗

The film narrates the Yemeni Civil Conflict (2015-present) from the perspective of three weapons employed: an American laser-guided bomb, a combat aircraft manufactured by four European countries, and a missile of Iranian origin.
Defined as one of the many proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the conflict sees the two countries militarily involved in a local clash between the Shia group Houthis and the local Sunni government. Five years of war led to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world worsened even by the Covid-19 epidemic. Despite the many allegations of violating humanitarian law and an arms embargo imposed in April 2015, thousands of weapons continue to be delivered yearly to the suppliers of the two belligerents.
The United States and Europe military support the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arms Emirates, while Iran backs-up the Houthis. It is from the debris of weapons that survived to the impact with their target that it is possible to investigate not only who "pulled the trigger" but also who designed, produced, acquired and delivered it.

The Repository of Weapons is a selection of arms transferred to the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi militia and employed in the conflict in Yemen. Fourteen dossiers for 14 manufacturing countries, listing weapons systems and components exported after the beginning of the conflict, and 25 video-evidence to prove their use against civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Arms Trade Treaty has entered into force since December 2014 to establish common standards for the arms import-export and to prohibit sales to states that could use them for humanitarian crimes. All the weapons listed, and therefore the manufacturing countries, should be taken in the exam.

The repository is translated into a digital archive available at www.weaponsreputation.com/weapons-repository

Special thanks for the introduction to the topic to Bellingcat (Benjamin Strick), the EU Arms Project (Ludo Hekman, Klaas van Dijken), ваят, Leone Hadavi.

Graduation project
Master in Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven

Exhibition and Publication
October 17th, 2020

Notable mentions
• Bronze, European Design Award 2021 ↗
• Global Lift Network, First-Time Filmmakers Showcase, 2021 (online) ↗
• Special mention as best Short Documentary / Glocal Film Festival, Torino, 2021 (online) ↗
• Nomination for the Gijs Bakker Award 2020 ↗
• Digital Dutch Design Week 2020 ↗
• (Online) GS20 Design Academy Graduation Show ↗

Featured on
• Call for Creatives, 2020 ↗
• Ossomagazine, December 2020 ↗
• Digital Design Award Nomination, January 2021 ↗