mine kafon by massoud hassani kickstarter campaign

‘mine kafon’ by massoud hassaniimage © massoud hassani

afghan product designer massoud hassani grew up in a war-torn kabul, on the edge of the desert. as a child, he and his friends used the constant wind and relatively flat terrain to race homemade wind-powered toys across the rocky terrain. after the military occupation however, soldiers left thousands of landmines hidden just under the topsoil, posing a deadly threat to the innocent inhabitants of the area. now, many years later, massoud revisits the still-present mine situation that has by now claimed the lives of many citizens. using his experiences as a kid, he reinterprets his old toys into full scale working wind machines that cost 40 euros. like a sphere made of long bamboo plungers with plastic caps, the ‘mine kafon‘ can be rolled across the landscape without human assistance and with its many legs and adequate weight detonates forgotten landmines. as each limb is modular and cheaply reproduced and replaced, the construct can be used time and time again at a low cost. an embedded GPS chip will transmit the locations of cleared areas, creating a map of safe zones and saving countless lives in war-devastated regions as it combs over the ground disarming dangerous explosives.

the project is currently seeking funding via kickstarter, with the campaign ending on january 17th, 2013; and will become part of the MoMA collection and exhibited at the museum in march.

introductory videovideo © ardent film trust

setting-up one of the detonatorsimage © massoud hassani