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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Nuclear exhibition launches in nation’s south
Exhibition curator and calligrapher Lee Ken-cheng, second right, and former Pingtung County commissioner Tsao Chi-hung, center, pose for a photograph at an exhibition in Pingtung County on Thursday. Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
A calligraphy and photograph exhibition on the history of nuclear use has begun concurrently in Pingtung County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, inviting visitors to reflect on nuclear policies ahead of the national referendum on reactivating the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant scheduled for Aug. 23.
Titled Return to Zero, （歸零） the exhibition was organized by Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan （CET）, an environmental group.
It is on display at two independent bookstores in Pingtung County — Akauw Books （繫。本屋） and Yong Sheng No. 5 （永勝5號） — a bookstore in Tainan, Bookstore & Cafe Nothing （無有為書店）, and a human rights-themed cafe in Kaohsiung, Chhun Hok （春福）.
The exhibition is a collaboration between Taiwanese and Japanese artists on nuclear issues, featuring works by exhibition curator and calligrapher Lee Ken-cheng （李根政）, who is also CET chairman, and Japanese photographer Naomi Toyoda.
Toyoda’s photographs record the impact of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant incident in 2011 on the environment and people’s lives in Japan, while Lee’s calligraphy revolves around nuclear development in Taiwan over the past 40 years.
Lee on Thursday told a news conference that the exhibition title Return to Zero has a dual meaning, which refers not only to Taiwan returning to zero nuclear power on May 17, but also to Japanese society’s memories of the Fukushima nuclear disaster “returning to zero.”
A new pro-nuclear wave is rising in many countries due to the massive power demand created by the development of artificial intelligence technology, he said.
The world has forgotten about the Fukushima nuclear incident and younger generations do not understand what actually happened 14 years ago, Lee said.
Many factors leading to the incident remain unresolved until today, he said, calling on the public not to ignore nuclear risks based on blind optimism about technology.
Toyoda said in a statement that many scenes of the disaster captured in his photographs are nowhere to be recognized nowadays, as the Japanese government has demolished those buildings and built new public facilities.
However, radioactive contamination can last for 200 years, even after disaster scenes are wiped out, he said, adding that children exposed to radiation during the incident have been reported to have thyroid cancer.
Toyoda also expressed respect for Taiwan’s achievement in becoming the first Asian country to close its nuclear plants, adding that he was in Taipei to celebrate the historic moment.
National Sun Yat-sen University sociology researcher Tan Ui-chi （陳威志）, who was studying abroad in Tokyo when the Fukushima incident occurred, said the incident prompted anti-nuclear movements across Japan, including a campaign where protesters gathered at the Japanese Prime Minister’s Residence every Friday night for nearly 10 years.
He cited Toyoda as saying that the incident was “a war on nature.”
However, Toyoda compared the nuclear disaster to war not because disaster sites were scarred and devastated, but because the government chose to conceal the truth and could not protect the people — two characteristics of wars, Chen said.
The exhibition is to run through Aug. 24.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
