1986–2026: Living with Uncertainty

Building on Volker Kreidler’s long-term project *Half Life Chornobyl*, the panel discussion explores the question of what happens when the past suddenly becomes the present again. How does our view of Chornobyl change when Ukraine is once again marked by war, destruction and an existential threat? What can photographs tell us about such upheavals – and what remains beyond the images?

The discussion brings together diverse perspectives: personal memory and journalistic research, photography and politics, nature and technology, historical experience and current reality.

Anna Zhukovets, Michael Biedowicz, Dr Anton Hofreiter and Volker Kreidler will discuss Chernobyl, Ukraine and a present whose outcome remains uncertain.

The participants

Anna Zhukovets

Journalist, director, editor and producer. Born in Mariupol in 1997 and now living in Berlin, she works for ARTE Tracks East, *DIE ZEIT* and *DIE WELT*, amongst others. She received the 2022 Reporters’ Prize for her investigative reporting on Mariupol.

Michael Biedowicz

Photographer, filmmaker, photo editor and curator. He worked at DIE ZEIT from 1997 to 2020, serving as picture editor of ZEITmagazin from 2007 onwards. He is a member of the German Photographic Society (DGPh) and teaches at various universities and specialist schools of photography.

Dr Anton Hofreiter

Politician and, since 2021, Chair of the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Affairs. He has been a Member of the German Bundestag since 2005 and focuses in particular on European and international issues.

Volker Kreidler

Photographer. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, he has devoted himself to exploring Eastern Europe through photography. His long-term project, ‘Half Life Chornobyl’, links the consequences of the 1986 nuclear disaster with the current political and social situation in Ukraine.