Consequences. Art and Activism in the Nuclear Age

Past Exhibitions

Tuesday 16th August – Saturday 3rd September 2022 (not open 27th Aug)

Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm, free entry

Launch event: Friday 19 August 2022, 6-10pm
Free and open to all but advance registration needed via Eventbrite here: linktr.ee/PeaceCranes

The exhibition has emerged within a context of fear, but also of hope. Fear, because of recent threats of nuclear weapons use alongside continuing modernisation and expansion of nuclear arsenals, but also hope because the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which was adopted in 2017 and entered into force in 2021. The inaugural meeting of countries that have joined took place in June 2022 where they recognised the contribution made by the 600 plus civil society organisations – including Peace & Justice (Scotland) – that comprise the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Nobel Peace Laureate in 2017.

Consequences presents a curated selection of over 20 artist’s films, photography, works on paper, sound art, inflatable sculptures and poetry by Scottish and international artists to be experienced during the 75th anniversary of Edinburgh International Festival from 16 August until 3 September 2022.

Collectively, the works explore the catastrophic, widespread and persistent humanitarian and environmental consequences posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – another terrible reminder of the nuclear knife-edge on which the world is precariously balanced, as well as the ramifications of the nuclear power accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima, and the dropping and testing of the atomic bomb in Japan, Kazakhstan and the Marshall Islands.

Artists featured in Consequences include Maxim Dondyuk (Ukraine), Alla Georgieva (Ukraine/Bulgaria), Su Grierson (Scotland), Madelon Hooykaas (The Netherlands), Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (USA), Peter Kennard (England), Dan Lin (USA), Alena Rogozhkina (Ukraine/Scotland), Makana (USA), Pam Skelton (England), Elena Subach (Ukraine), Daria Svertilova (Ukraine), Edward Thompson (England), Mare Tralla (Estonia/Scotland), Helen Zhgir (Ukraine).

Consequences is part of the Peace Cranes project produced by Peace & Justice (Scotland) and delivered in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library and promoted by Scottish ICAN Partners on nuclearban.scot. It is funded by Creative Scotland through Sustaining Creative Development Fund, People’s Postcode Trust, the European Commission through i-Portunus Mobility Fund and National Lottery Community Fund.

The Consequences exhibition is the culmination of Peace Cranes – a project exploring the twin existential threats of nuclear weapons and climate change. Initiated and produced by Peace & Justice (Scotland), the Peace Cranes project is curated by Iliyana Nedkova and Heather Kiernan since 2020 through a series of contemporary art exhibitions and events about peace, people and planet, held across Edinburgh. Delivered with the support of a range of partners, volunteers, backers and funders. The artists featured in 2020 and 2021 included Leo Ashizawa, Jeff Brown, Michael Mears, Chihiro Ono, You-Ri Yamanaka, Ian Dodds, Janis Hart, Peter Kennard, Michael Mears, Donna Riddington, Pam Skelton and You-Ri Yamanaka.

https://peaceandjustice.org.uk