The Nuclear Culture programme 2016/ 17

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Knowledge Quarter’s partner, Arts Catalyst, announces the Nuclear Culture programme 2016/17, curated by Ele Carpenter in partnership with KARST and Bildmuseet.

The Nuclear Culture Project is a curatorial exploration, led by Ele Carpenter, Associate Curator at Arts Catalyst, in partnership with Goldsmiths College, University of London, which began with considering the conceptual and cultural challenges of dismantling nuclear submarines in the UK, inviting artists to consider the aesthetic, conceptual and ethical concerns of nuclear submarines in conjunction with experts in the field.

The project brings together scientists, engineers and community activists with artists and ethicists to develop new opportunities for creative practice. Specific areas of enquiry include: the invisibility of the nuclear economy, the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant meltdown, geological waste storage, the Anthropocene, and nuclear humanities.

The 2016/17 Nuclear Culture programme launches in June 2016 with Material Nuclear Culture, an exhibition exploring the material traces and cultural legacy of nuclear powered submarines in the UK.

Ele Carpenter, curator: “During the Material Nuclear Culture exhibition two important decisions will be made by the British Government: the announcement on whether to cancel the Trident nuclear weapons programme, and where the reactor pressure vessels from old submarines will be stored in the UK. Dismantling and storing radioactive waste is not a straightforward process, and the MOD’s plans are still based on the dream of burying it deep under the Cumbrian hills for a million years. The exhibition brings together different aspects of this debate and explores the political and aesthetic tensions of these long time frames, beyond human comprehension.”

The projects will develop through the following appointments:

Click here for more information.