Enduring violence: Bhopal’s ongoing water disaster 

A free exhibition by the LivingBodiesObjects project in collaboration with the Bhopal Medical Appeal

Parkinson Court North, University of Leeds, 2-6 December 2024

 

Drawing credits: Lynn Wray

On the night of 2-3 December 1984, the deadly gas methyl isocyanate leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. Now known as the world’s worst industrial disaster, the gas leak has killed 25,000 people to date and left more than 120,000 people with continuing health effects. Less well known than the gas disaster is the ongoing ‘second disaster’ in Bhopal: the contaminated groundwater supply, caused by Union Carbide’s unsafe disposal of chemical waste from the 1970s onwards. 

On the 40th anniversary of the gas disaster, this exhibition draws attention to the ongoing water crisis in Bhopal and the activism of water-affected communities. Produced by the University of Leeds’s LivingBodiesObjects project in partnership with the Bhopal Medical Appeal, it is the culmination of a collaborative practice research project in which we explored new ways of telling the story of groundwater contamination in Bhopal. Our interviews with members of water-affected communities, original artworks, and experiments with digital storytelling form the heart of this exhibition. 

Please join us:

9-5pm, Monday 2-Friday 6 December 2024

Parkinson Court North, University of Leeds

The Parkinson Building can be found here on the University’s campus map: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/campusmap?location=17525. Go in the main entrance to the Parkinson Building and turn right at the reception desk to find Parkinson Court North. The accessible entrance to the building is via the lift next to the Parkinson steps.