Ele Carpenter will present her Nuclear Culture fieldwork from the Northern Territory of Australia and the Joint Research Centre of the European Union, Ispra, Italy, carried out during 2024. This curatorial research into planetary nuclear aesthetics invites us to stay with the trouble of the Nuclear Anthropocene through a decolonial unravelling of the spatial and social aesthetics of nuclear technoscientific practices. The research investigates relationships between nuclear contexts, visual culture and artistic practices, moving between studio visits, field work, undertaking radiation protection surveys, and participating in expert working groups1. Findings are presented in public lectures, written essays and curated exhibitions which define new conceptual frameworks for critical analysis of the visual and material conditions of nuclear art and culture.
Ele Carpenter is Professor of Interdisciplinary Art and Culture and Director of the UmArts Research Centre at Umeå University. Ele’s curatorial research is focused on Nuclear Culture, specifically decolonizing the European discourse on Radioactive Waste Management. She is a member of the NEA/OECD Forum for Stakeholder Confidence on geologic disposal of high level radioactive waste, and her current research and writing is supported by the RJ Sabbatical Fund and a Vetenskapsrådet Exploratory Research Grant.
