ungurrookoolpum, 2018



Ungurrookoolpum is an interactive documentary made during or after our visit to a former uranium mine situated on the edge of Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory. We went there because we had read that a recreational lake made from the old open cut mine had been closed due to high levels of radiation. When we visited the main site, the Operations Manager told us the lake was open and a beautiful spot to check out. We went to the lake and met a local family who were enjoying a sunny day. They knew the lake was formerly a uranium mine, but were pretty sure it was safe. Our Geiger counter started to alarm while we were talking, but both we and the locals were unsure what it meant. It became clear that we needed to learn more about the site and how radiation can affect both our bodies and the environment. We present you with a range of voices speaking on Ungurrookoolpum (Rum Jungle), a remote place in a large country, where distance can lead to forgetting. If the unseen potential dangers of an old mine can be overlooked in 40 years, how, at the other end of the nuclear cycle, will radioactive waste be remembered in 1000 years?

Link to work online: wormrefuse.org/ungurrookoolpum
Curated by Worm.Art.Ecology Web design by Alex Walker


The project is supported by the Artists International Development Fund