Mexico’s guns-as-art exhibition is heading to the U.S.

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An exhibition of guns as art now in Mexico is making its way from Mexico to the United States, where many of the weapons presumably originated.

The show ‘A Farewell to Arms. Contraband on the Border’ uses photos and artwork to illustrate how the illegal arms trade has affected Mexico, where as many as 50,000 people have been killed in gun-related violence since 2006.

The south-of-the-border exhibition, currently at the Memory and Tolerance Museum in Mexico City, closes April 15. The Washington Office on Latin America plans to bring it to the U.S. capital later this year.

The exhibit mixes imagery of danger and innocence -- one photo depicts children using a rifle to break a piñata -- to show how ubiquitous firearms have become. Another piece has U.S.A. spelled out in a mosaic of pistols.

Mexico’s deadliest city reportedly is Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Many homicides involve drug traffickers, but the violence has spilled over to claim civilians by the score, as well as journalists and human rights activists.

The Mexican government reports that it has seized 130,000 weapons during a five-year offensive against the drug cartels; 90% were from the United States, according to the U.S. government. ALSO:

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-- Jamie Wetherbe