Burial of an Unknown Child

Raghu Rai, Indian, born 1942

Burial of an Unknown Child, 1984

Arriving in Bhopal on the morning of December 4th, 1984, Raghu Rai witnessed and photographed the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy, which killed at least 4,000 people and affected the lives of more than 100,000. Children made up a large number of the fatalities and injuries, especially because the poisonous gas drifted close to the ground. Rai photographed the burial of this unidentified child; her eyes are cloudy and swollen due to her exposure to the gas. The child’s family was never identified, but her image has become an icon for the disaster. Label by Sarah Roberts

Street Art Globalization—How Street Art Became a Global Phenomenon

M. Felix, United Kingdom

Street Art Globalization—How Street Art Became a Global Phenomenon, 2015

This graphic poster is featured to exemplify how street art has served as a means of political and social expression around the world. This particular poster is ominous in character; it is meant to concisely convey its message in that there are few, if any other dimensions of the poster that might distract from the three central objects of the piece. The contrast between Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald’s smiling faces with the screaming child is dysphoric. This calls attention to the way that seemingly innocent societal structures and franchises can be damaging. Some of the two most well-known figures in the world that are American grown, detaining the child in the middle effectively portrays how American imperialism and cultural influence benefits from the degradation, harm, and exploitation of others. Label by Jordan Stofko

27 April, 1986

Igor Kostin, Russian, 1936-2015

27 April, 1986, 1986

Only 14 hours after the meltdown at Chernobyl, Igor Kostin took a series of photos of the site. However, all but one was destroyed by radiation exposure. This one surviving photo gives a view of the destroyed reactor as seen through a small helicopter window. The photo is exceedingly grainy, blurring the local town of Pripyat. The foggy photo is a result of lingering radiation from the site, despite the fact that it was taken inside a helicopter, 650 feet away. Kostin, who received no official or state approval to take this photo, simultaneously documents the destruction of Chernobyl for the future and shares the story in the present, making public the immediate physical disaster and alluding to the more pervasive disaster of invisible radiation. Label by Caitlin Blomo

Children Bathing in what Bhopal Residents call the Poison Pond near the Union Carbide Plant

Ruth Freson, American

Children Bathing in what Bhopal Residents call the Poison Pond near the Union Carbide Plant, 2004

The New York Times published this article in 2004 more than 20 years after the disaster that took place in Bhopal. The toxicity and degradation that impacted the area has yet to dissipate. The children playing in the “Poison Pond” photographed above are examples of the victims of not only the gas tragedy but of corporate war against disadvantageous communities. The images placed in this article are mainly of a new generation of the persons in Bhopal, but the tragedy still wreaks havoc for their communities. Hundreds of thousands of persons claim to have been injured or sick from the event. Generations later children are forced to play in a pond that has been ruined by corporate greed. The DOW chemical company likely never anticipated this tragedy from occurring, however, they did nothing to prevent it and certainly did not think of the affects their carelessness may have on the community. The juxtaposition of the children playing against the apocalyptic backdrop of the photo adds shock value to the unimaginable events that took place almost four decades ago. Label by Annabel Bentley