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Opening of the Chernobyl photo exhibition

The photo exhibition ‘Chernobyl Memory Tour’ to the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was officially opened in the Haus der Wissenschaft in Bremen on September 9th, 2021. The exhibition, featuring pictures taken by Susanne Schattenberg and Michael Rochlitz on their trips to the Chernobyl exclusion zone in 2019 and 2020, was conceived and organized by the regional group of the Young DGO (the German Association for East European Studies). The exhibition is designed in the way that presents Chernobyl as a multifaceted and evolving space. It shows its past, present and future - as a place of remembrance, a tourist destination and a museum of Soviet life.

At the vernissage on September 9th, the guests were first welcomed by the head of the Haus der Wissenschaft Prof. Dr. Gerold Wefer. Mareike zum Felde and Caroline Finkeldey from the Junge DGO group Bremen then explained the motivation for displaying the pictures from Chernobyl and the conceptual framework of the exhibition. After that, the two photographers, Susanne Schattenberg and Michael Rochlitz, discussed their impressions of visiting Chernobyl – the place that is often associated with devastation and danger. They emphasized that a trip to Chernobyl is a powerful experience that helps understand the history of the 20th century and the Cold War and get a glimpse into the life of a Soviet town of the 1980s.

The exhibition is open in the Haus der Wissenschaft (Sandstraße 4/5, Bremen) until October 14th, 2021.

Vernissage