Nuclear Polders

Schedule

Fri May 20 2022 at 03:00 pm

Location

International Institute of Social History | Amsterdam, NH

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Sonic Acts is inviting participants to apply for a new workshop in the Practicum series. Nuclear Polders, hosted by Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou and Agnès Villette, will engage with antinuclear activism history at the International Institute of Social History (IISG) archive in Amsterdam, on Friday 20 May from 15:00.
The workshop is organised around a small exhibition composed of antinuclear material – including posters, handouts from antinuclear marches, an audio piece and books. IISG members will present the archive, followed by an introduction to Nuclear Polders and the selected material, and a 15-minute lecture on Dutch antinuclear activism by Ruby de Vos (University of Groningen). The session concludes with a roundtable discussion, during which the group will assemble ideas and work towards conceptualising an antinuclear poster to be printed following the workshop.
**APPLY BY 2 MAY**
→ Please sign up via Homerun by 2 May: https://bit.ly/3L6DSzs
€ 12,50 – Full Price
€ 10 – Students
You will be asked to submit a brief motivation (no more than 300 words) and a short biography (no more than 150 words about yourself). If selected for participation, you will be sent a confirmation email with a payment link.
**ABOUT THE PROJECT**
Several ageing nuclear infrastructures, in Europe and beyond, are threatened by imminent water-level rising brought on by climate change. As shorelines creep inland and weather conditions worsen, the fragility of these robust infrastructures comes to the fore. Where does this leave us regarding the current nuclear optimism triggered by climate change?
On the coasts of the Netherlands (Borssele), Belgium (Doel) and France (Gravelines), lie three nuclear power stations that share the mutable soil of the polder landscape – all three locations are threatened by water as the ground they stand on seeps away. There was no consideration of climate change when they were built. Today, it threatens the three nuclear plants and requires continuous construction of dykes and elevated buffers. Timing matters very much – consequences are set to take effect within the next five to fifteen years. Yet, since the nuclear plants are run by three distinct sovereign and juridical systems, they are managed according to national agendas. Adopting geological and political discrepancies as a starting point, Nuclear Polders consists in a research project combining art, field trips and investigative practices that explore the techno-natural entanglements at play in these three locations.
By paying attention to the parallel, yet distinct, histories of these infrastructures, Nuclear Polders is an invitation to better understand the implications of our nuclear present and future. Through the accumulation of visualisations, theoretical reflection , and artistic speculation about the three locations, we will work collectively towards a publication connecting the fragile nuclear geographies of polder landscapes using an expanded archive of essays, artworks and a fiction. The project will unfold through a series of lectures and workshops that invite participants to explore and learn from nuclear geographies and histories, policy issues, activism and ongoing controversies. They will culminate in a group field trip to Gravelines, Doel and Borsselle.
Nuclear Polders offers a unique package of online and in-person meetings, workshops, online lectures and field trips to active and decommissioned nuclear sites.
→ More details about the organisers can be found on Homerun: https://bit.ly/3L6DSzs
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Where is it happening?

International Institute of Social History, Cruquiusweg 31,Amsterdam, Netherlands

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Sonic Acts

Host or Publisher Sonic Acts

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