‘Flames not Flowers’, at ‘Seven Arts’, a not-for-profit arts space in Leeds until 1st August.
In the words of photographer Melanie Hadida:
Among the hundreds of thousands of survivors of the gas disaster and water contamination, Bhopali women have been the most severely affected. Many women widowed by the disaster or with husbands incapacitated by the gas became the sole breadwinners for their families, caring for sick husbands and children and dealing with their own health problems. Rates of disability among children born in Bhopal have soared. Many women are stigmatised and deemed unfavourable marriage prospects due to their illnesses and inability to bear healthy children.
These photos were taken during several trips to Bhopal between 2007 and 2013 where I lived and worked with Bhopali women, who in the face of immeasurable tragedy and despair, rose up to become some of the world’s most inspiring and empowered activists. They have fought for the human rights of Bhopal’s survivors, protesting in their own country and around the world, agitating for access to clean water, legal compensation, adequate health care and economic rehabilitation. They have fought for the rights of their children to grow up in a world free from environmental contamination and corporate injustice.
A percentage of the proceeds of all photos sold will go to the Bhopal Medical Appeal
