Consequences, 2017 (work in progress)
We are presently researching Nuclear Culture and the world’s longest enduring cultures in Australia. The project examines storytelling as a technology that connects past, present and future. Radioactive isotopes remain dangerous to life for many generations, for longer than culture will persist as we know it. In order for future generations to be warned of radioactivity, living stories that last as long need to be told. We have visited Jawoyn rock paintings of people with signs of radiation poisoning and been told dreaming stories that have been passed on for more than 20,000 years that continue to warn against digging in "sickness county", a part of the land with radioactive minerals.
We have been travelling the country from north to south visiting current and former uranium mines, proposed nuclear waste sites and international trade ports. We have met Traditional Owners, mine workers, nuclear campaigners and a whistleblower who worked at the testing grounds for Britain’s nuclear arsenal. We have learnt stories that have been overlooked. Stories that hold urgent lessons.
We ran workshops in Australia and UK to collaboratively create stories and images that communicate with future generations about the environment.
The project is supported by the Artists International Development Fund