This is an exhibition about the consequences of the 1957 nuclear accident. For many years this accident remained the most severe nuclear accident to have occurred anywhere. It was also the least known, as was the fate of those it affected. The pictures in the exhibition are intended to show what is happening in the radioactive areas. They portray only a few of the thousands of people living in the contaminated villages. While the official press renders homage to the bravado of the high-tech nuclear power industry, people are still dying and children with abnormalities are still being born next to MAYAK in Chelyabinsk Region. As a response to protests from environmental organisations, the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy (Rosatom) is staging a showy resettlement of the village of Muslyumovo – shifting it some 2 km, which will do little to improve anyone’s situation, except that of the construction companies that receive the contracts for the resettlement works – and the officials who stand behind them.
The exhibition was created after two photographers made a journey to the polluted villages in Chelyabinsk Region in August of 2007
Concept, design, and organisation of the exhibition: Environmental group “Ecodefense!“ (Russia) with the support of the Heinrich-Boll-Foundation, Germany
Photographs: Alla Slapovskaya and Alisa Nikulina
Texts under the photographs: Nadezhda Kutepova, Alisa Nikulina, Vladimir Slivyak
We would like to express our special thanks to the following for their support in creating this exhibition: : Valentin Galuzin
, the
Fotoproekt Laboratory and Pavel Kossenko
Hosting was kindly provided by
Teia. Thanks a lot!
In September / October 2007 the exhibition will be presented offline at:
Sakharov Museum, Moscow; ul. Zemlyanoy val, d. 47, str. 6
Exhibition Hall of the Artists’ Union of Russia, Chelyabinsk; ul. Tsvillinga, 34
