Special Exhibition! Strange Beauty: Radiography from Fukushima March 15 2016, 5:00 pm University Art Gallery, Frick Fine Arts Building
The opening of the first US exhibition of "Strange Beauty: Radiography from Fukushima" will take place the evening of March 15th in the Frick Fine Arts Building at the University of Pittsburgh. A reception with light food and drink will take place in the Cloisters area in front of the gallery between 5 and 6 pm. A panel discussion "Perspectives on Nuclear Power Past and Future" will follow in the Auditorium from 6 - 8 pm. Panelists will include the photographer Takashi Morizumi (who will appear via skype), Patricia DeMarco Ph.D.(see below) and Zeba Ahmed who participated in a study tour last June while on a Fulbright Fellowship in Japan and will share her experience and what she learned about the conditions in Fukushima. See flier for details.
Takashi Morizumi is a Japanese photographer who well known for his anti-war photography and books as well as his photographs of Chernobyl and Fukushima. Following the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant he photographed ordinary objects exposed to radiation. They sparkle in a way that makes them incredibly beautiful, riveting... and then the observer realizes what it all means. He also spent time and photographed people who lived and worked downwind. As he explains:
"Even on a battlefield in the midst of a war, it is hard to guarantee that a bullet will reach its target. But here my body was pierced with 100% accuracy by radiation, an invisible bullet. And as it penetrated my cells, it damaged my genes and I felt nothing. I could not see it, hear it, smell it, taste it…. Our five senses are not able to detect radiation.
People are acting as if the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident is already over. In fact, radiation has left deep scars in the hearts and on the bodies of people in the affected areas. These panels provide a record of the suffering of the people who lost their hometowns.
Today, there are more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world, and nuclear power plants are being built one after another around the globe. There is no question that continuing on this road will lead to certain destruction.
I am hopeful that these images will help to change the path of spaceship earth as it hurtles toward catastrophe."
Takashi Morizumi
We encourage everyone to come for the reception and panel discussion as well as to view the exhibit. However, for those unable to come on March 15, the exhibit will also be open from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm on March 16 - 18 and will pop up in other locations in Pittsburgh on future occasions.
