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Thanks everybody for your nice reactions on Mine Kafon project. We are following them with a great interest.

Now we just launched our Kickstarter to Make our dreams come true on Mine Kafon project. Please visit this link and spread the word. So lets get it rolling.

Thanks a lot for your collaboration and a have a nice christmas :)
Massoud

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Massoud Hassani (1983)
“I grew up in Qasaba, Kabul. My family moved there when I was 5, and at the time there were several wars going on. My brother Mahmud and I we played every day on the fields surrounded with the highest mountains in our neighbourhood.

When we were young we learned to make our own toys. One of my favourites was a small rolling object that was wind-powered. We used to race against the other kids on the fields around our neighbourhood. There was always a strong wind waving towards the mountains. While we were racing against each other, our toys rolled too fast and too far. Mostly they landed in areas where we couldn’t go rescue them because of landmines. I still remember those toys I’d made that we lost and watching them just beyond where we could go.

Almost 20 years later, I went back to Qasaba and made those toys again. That was my graduation project for the Design Academy Eindhoven (2011). I remade one, making it 20 times bigger as well as heaver and stronger. Powered by the wind, it’s meant for the same areas which were (and still are) full of mines.

Now if it rolls over a mine, the toy, now a Mine Kafon, will destroy itself and the landmine in the same time. Made from bamboo and biodegradable plastics, the Mine Kafon also has a GPS chip integrated in it. You can follow its movement on the website and see were it went, where are the safest paths to walk on and how many land mines are destroyed in that area. On paper, Afghanistan is said to have 10 million land mines. In truth there are far, far more. Every destroyed land mine means a saved life and every life counts.”

Mine Kafon – Deminer (2012)
After getting to know the design of Mine Kafon, director Callum Cooper of ardentfilm.org contacted Massoud Hassani to collaborate on a documentary. The aim of the project is to create more attention for this worldwide problem and help along the production of the Mine Kafon as well. The result will be a short film, which shows a personal portrait of the designer who has created a low cost solution to landmine clearance.

Mine Kafon will be part of the collection MOMA (New York) and Hassani will also have an exposition in this renowned museum in March 2013.


During the shooting of the film it was proven that the prototypes work, now Hassani is in the process of finding collaborative partners – technical companies, fundings and governments – to start to produce these live saving deminers.

Thanks for your support.

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lecture about Mine Kafon on Dezeen Screen

In this next movie we filmed at the Design Academy Eindhoven My Way talks in Milan, academy graduate Massoud Hassani presents his device for seeking and destroying landmines.

The My Way talks were held in April to discuss the evolving roles of designers and were moderated by Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs.

you can watch the full-length movie here.

Mine Kafon - deminer

During his childhood in Afghanistan, Massoud Hassani would make miniature models to be blown by the wind. Sometimes they would end up in a minefield, where he could not retrieve them.



Now Massoud’s wind-powered creations are designed specifically for minefields. Like a giant clump of dandelion seeds, his Mine Kafon will roll about, detonating any mines in its path. “There are 30 million land mines in Afghanistan and 26 million people, so that’s more mines than people,” Massoud says. Each deminer is to have a GPS tracking device linked to a website showing which areas have been cleared

Mine Kafon - deminer

27 years ago I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1983. Before I turn 14 years old, I lived in several locations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Then I immigrated in the Netherlands in 1998. The first chapter of my live began in Qasaba, Kabul. That was when we moved with our family to Qasaba in age of 5. My life of survival began at there together with my brother. Back then there were several wars going on.

Me and my brother Mahmud, we played every day on the fields surrounded with the highest mountains in our neighbor hood.

On young age we learned to make our own toys. One of my favorite toys was a small rolling object. It was powered by the wind. We used to race against the other kids on the fields in our neighborhood. There was always a strong wind waving towards the mountains. While we were racing against each other, our small miniatures rolled way to fast and too far. Mostly they landed in areas where we were not allowed to step a foot on. Those areas were properties of great dangers and landmines. It was full of them. I still remember those friends that we have lost and saw them getting injured.

Almost after 20 years, I went back to my childhood and made those toys all over again. That was because of my graduation project for the Design Academy Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I remade one of those objects, 20 times bigger, heaver and stronger. It is powered by the wind and it’s meant for the same areas where were full of land mines.

Now if it rolls over a land mine, it will destroy itself and the landmine in the same time. It’s made from bamboo and biodegradable plastics. It has also a GPS chip integrated in it. So you can follow its steps on the website. You can see were it went, where are they safest paths to walk on and how many land mines are destroyed on that area.

In Afghanistan there are 10 million land mines on paper. In fact there are much more.

Every destroyed land mine means a saved life and every life counts.

Mine Kafon – Deminer

Massoud Hassani