Material Nuclear Culture is an exhibition of contemporary artists responses to the physical qualities and material traces of the aesthetics, traditions and legacy of nuclear powered submarines in the UK. Whilst the MOD is currently undertaking a public consultation process on how and where to dismantle and store Britain’s old subs the long term problems of storing radioactive waste remain unresolved.

The exhibition will include new sculptural, film, sound and installation works by David Mabb, Crowe & Rawlinson, Thomson & Craighead and Susan Schuppli. The exhibition will situate these new works alongside a poster artwork by Erika Kobayashi exploring the intergenerational effects of radiation between Europe and Japan from the atomic bomb to nuclear accidents; and Kota Takeuchi’s recent work on the complexity of monuments and markers.

The exhibition will take place at Karst Gallery in close proximity to the Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth where several of the Navy’s decommissioned nuclear powered submarines are laid up, and due to be dismantled. The exhibition will mark the final year of the Submarine Dismantling Project (SDP) Advisory Group who have advised the MOD on the process of dismantling British nuclear submarines for over ten years. The exhibition will commemorate the legacy of the Advisory Group process, and their commitment to an open and frank discussion about the issues of radioactive waste management between the MOD, expert advisors, NGO’s and statutory agencies. The SDP Advisory Group have been invited to hold their final meeting in Plymouth, to enable the group to view the exhibition, meet artists, and take part in a round table discussion with people from the naval base, retired submariners, and artists and activists in Plymouth.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/16914