The Earth is flat
If all the people in the world looked in one direction only, this would have
serious consequences on how mankind perceives itself. It is important that
some people look around in all directions in order to describe what they see
to others.
During discussions on the Chernobyl catastrophe of 20 years ago, it is often
mentioned that the Soviet top-down management system where people did not
question anything and just followed orders played just as important a role
in the accident as the decisions of the operators in the fourth reactor’s
control room.
This exhibition describes, in words and photographs, how 20 different people
perceive the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe, 20 years after the
accident. These stories are about how the lives of 20 Europeans were radically
changed as a result of the tragic accident and how they have handled their
experiences ever since. Opinions on the significance of the accident vary
as much as the social groups the 20 people represent. They live in very different
cultures, have been educated to different levels and are all strangers to
one another. All have been given the same opportunity to offer their own views
on the accident’s consequences and how these should be dealt with.
The story of the Chernobyl catastrophe is so comprehensive that it continues
to be difficult for the general public, without the advantage of technical
knowledge, to get a broad view of the event. The accident at the nuclear power
plant combines elements of high technology, politics, environmental sciences,
sociology, and cultural understanding. One can only begin to form a general
idea of the catastrophe by looking at it from all angles.
Understanding is important. If we do not attempt to look at the world around
us from a broader perspective, we may well be digging our own graves unwittingly.
The stories are based on interviews with the 20 people and given this, the
described events and technical explanations may not correspond with known
facts. This helps raise the question of which truths we, as ordinary laypersons,
choose to believe. When it comes to the Chernobyl disaster in particular,
it would seem that only few people see the world in the same way.
Mads Eskesen, Photographer
