Works from Volker Kreidler's long-term photography project, titled “Half Life Chornobyl,” are on display at the Bastion Kronprinz Gallery.
Image gallery
Gegenwart Krieg und Zukunft Kyiv_2025
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered the worst accident in the history of civilian nuclear power to date.
Just under 10 years later, in 1995, the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden commissioned photographer Volker Kreidler to document the consequences of the disaster for people, places, and nature.
In 2015, the photographer returned to the exclusion zone to capture with his camera nature’s reclamation of the land due to the near-total absence of humans.
In 2025, Volker Kreidler traveled to Kyiv once again; the photographs serve as a highly topical testimony to the current political situation in Ukraine.
At the heart of the 2025 works is the resilience of the people in Kyiv and the exclusion zone, particularly in the context of conditions during Russia’s war of aggression.
The exhibition “Half Life Chornobyl” at the Kronprinz Bastion in the Spandau Citadel comprehensively presents this long-term project as a manifesto that visualizes the limits of control in our highly technologized world.
From the constant, invisible threat of radiation to systemic corruption and the escalation caused by acts of war: Kreidler’s images make it clear that the risk of nuclear power is never static but takes on unpredictable dimensions, especially in times of crisis.
Volker Kreidler (* 1962) has been dedicated to the photographic exploration of Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
His work navigates the tension between the region’s rapprochement with the West and the associated challenges in matters of democracy, education, human rights, and interpersonal relationships.
Opening:
Thursday, July 2, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Speakers:
- Dr. Carola Brückner, District Councilor
- Dr. Jens-Ole Rey, curator and artistic director of Galerie Bastion Kronprinz
- Dr. Reiner Geulen, attorney and author
- Ulrike Euteneuer, co-curator and research intern
