Colombians get first glimpse of peace monument

Colombians are getting their first glimpse of a monument being constructed with weapons turned over by leftist rebels as part of an historic peace agreement ending more than five decades of bloody conflict.

The work by artist Doris Salcedo is titled “Fragments” and consists of a simple floor of gray-colored tiles built with melted rifles.

President Juan Manuel Santos visited the monument Tuesday, describing it as a moving epilogue to years spent negotiating peace.

Salcedo said the work still under construction is an attempt to symbolically “narrate the memories of the Colombian armed conflict.” She said the monument tries to “create a space that is radically empty and silent.”

Colombia’s conflict between leftist rebels, paramilitaries and the state left at least 250,000 dead, 60,000 missing and millions displaced.