In 2011, the Ukrainian government opened the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone up for tourism. The promise was for the space to become a reminder of the disaster and educate visitor’s attitudes towards nuclear power. Instead, this place of toxic cultural heritage became materialized not in opinions but in popular culture. It begs the question of whether Chernobyl as a space reshaped civic imagination or if civic imagination reshapes Chernobyl as a space and/or concept. It can be difficult to comprehend that a once progressive space will never be available for human-habitation ever again. The post-apocalyptic scenery of a decaying Soviet town becomes painstakingly beautiful, because when there is no hope left, at least you have beauty. _x000D_
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This presentation will discuss how the (previous) tourism in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone affect and has been affected by popular culture. The presentation approaches several popular visual representations of the disaster with the use of Günther Anders’ Ten Theses on Chernobyl and Olga Gorinova’s term bleak joy. Rooted in eco-aesthetics, the presentation questions the government’s decision as a political force to open up a space which in itself can be difficult to understand for the layman, and how the lack of technological knowledge can create an even deeper trench between scientific realism and civic imagination, when discussing the future of nuclear power._x000D_
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Bio_x000D_
Fannie Frederikke Baden is a PhD student in Art History and Visual Studies at the department of Cultural Sciences at Lund University. She is currently working on her dissertation project, Nuclear Spectators, which questions the relation between nuclear, popular, and visual culture. She has a background in art history, intermedial studies and visual culture.

Fannie Frederikke Baden
Lund University

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ID Abstract: 60