Rusting Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal

Rama Lakshmi , Indian

Rusting Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal, 2012

This is a photograph of the rusting remains of the Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal. This image quite literally renders present a small fraction of the lingering effects of the world’s worst industrial disaster. The fact that this structure remains ever present in the lives of those who live in Bhopal serves as a visual reminder of that which transpired in 1984 and still continues to impact the citizens of the area today. The erosion occurring to the structure itself works as a sort of counter monument in that it is simultaneously caught between its own demise while simultaneously commemorating Union Carbide’s negligence. Label by Jay Jolles

A Survivor’s Meeting In Progress in Bhopal

Rama Lakshmi, Indian

A Survivor’s Meeting In Progress in Bhopal, 2011

A banner on the tree marks their meeting spot. Brilliant colors of women’s saris fill the scene. Many of the people at this meeting are survivors of Union Carbide’s 1984 chemical leak in Bhopal that killed thousands and made at least 100,000 more chronically ill. After losing family members or becoming sick themselves, survivors like those pictured here became warriors, organizing to name Union Carbide as the perpetrator of this disaster, calling out the government’s complicity and challenging legislators to do more for survivors, and putting together remembrances of those lost. Gathering on this occasion to discuss a shutdown that would create pressure to increase compensation, some children have joined them and many in the group smile. They are witnesses to the joy not only of being together but of taking collective action. Label by Morgan Brittain