Little is known about the overall meaning of the two radioactive exclusion zones, Chornobyl (Ukraine) and Fukushima (Japan), from the visitors’ point of view. This article aims to explore similarities and differences in the visitors’ visual depictions of nuclear accident sites through a comparative study of two radioactively contaminated exclusion zones, namely Chornobyl and Fukushima, by investigating these areas through the concept of the nuclear Anthropocene. With the assistance of qualitative interviews and photographs of visitors to these two exclusion zones, my research explores the cultural experiences of nuclear power and people's ways of experiencing and creating meaning from radioactive landscapes. In my analysis, I focus on how these experiences translate into visual storytelling and the particular semiotic resources visitors utilise in their photographs to communicate their presence in the place, which is transformed by radioactive contamination. With this approach, the study sheds light on the visitors’ practices of visual framing of the nuclear Anthropocene and how these translate into material heritage legacies. The analysis of visitors' visual engagements with the material resources in two radioactive zones reveals visitors' evolving and changing pictorial interests in the context of participatory digital visual culture. The study provides insights into participatory culture as an agent that changes how contaminated sites are viewed, perceived, and experienced. Furthermore, this research will provide insights into the public’s role in the interpretation processes of the nuclear Anthropocene and the role of the public as a contemporary creator of digital nuclear archives.

Authors:
Veera Ojala, University of Turku, Finland

About the Presenter(s)
Veera Ojala is a PhD candidate in cultural heritage at the University of Turku, with a specific focus on the visual cultures associated with radioactive landscapes and nuclear waste, approached from the viewpoint of a cultural researcher.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Veera-Ojala-3

Additional website of interest
https://www.utu.fi/en/people/veera-ojala-0

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