Thursday, June 4, 2015

Chernobyl

When an explosion tore through Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl power plant on April 26, 1986, it was the worst nuclear accident the world had ever seen...
The Chernobyl accident is ranked level 7, the highest on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
The severity of its widespread environmental and human cost has only been equaled by 2011's disaster at Fukushima in Japan.
Contaminated rain and wind depositing radioactive dust were recorded as far afield as Sweden and Wales.
~Anita Isalska, for CNN


This week, we have art relating to the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. There are two videos at the bottom of this post -- one spotlights the disaster itself, and the other focuses on grandmothers who live in the vicinity.

Chernobyl's Children

Chernobyl
photo by Stefan Krasowski

Chernobyl. Last day of Pripyat. (Chernobyl accident on April 26, 1986)
by Alexey Akindino

Chernobyl Monument to Firefighters
"TO THOSE THAT SAVED THE WORLD"
photo by Justin Stahlman

The Chernobyl Memorial, on the spot of the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, now covered over
photo by Jennifer Boyer

The post office in Pripyat (a city that was evacuated and abandoned after the Chernobyl explosion)
photo by Michael Kötter

Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum
photo by Vincent de Groot

The Babushkas of Chernobyl: a film
Some 200 women defiantly cling to their ancestral homeland in Chernobyl’s radioactive “Exclusion Zone.” While most of their neighbors have long since fled and their husbands have gradually died off, this stubborn sisterhood is hanging on — even, oddly, thriving — while trying to cultivate an existence on toxic earth. ~The Babushkas of Chernobyl


A reenactment of the last hour before the explosion:


1 comment:

HWY said...


This is a perfect example of art recording history in general and showing its effects on individuals.

Very expressive and heart wrenching.

That Monument to Firefighters is very touching; glad someone did that.

Absolutely amazing about the babushkas!