“ART REVEALING TRUTH: WEAPONS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION” FEATURES A PHOTO EXHIBITION AND A TALK BY DESERT STORM MEDIC DENNIS KYNE

The Victims of a Different Nuclear War exhibition will be on view at Bard College from February 14 through March 2 ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard College Office of Student Life Programming, Saugerties Committee for Peace and Social Justice, Safe Legacy, and New Paltz Women in Black present the program “Art Revealing Truth: Weapons of Self-Destruction,” which includes the photo exhibition The Victims of a Different Nuclear War, on view at Bard College from February 14 through March 2. On Wednesday, February 16, at 7:00 p.m., there will be a talk by Desert Storm medic and photographer, Sgt. Dennis Kyne, followed by a reception at 8:30 p.m., and a screening of Martin Messionier’s film Invisible War—Politics of Radiation at 9:30 p.m. All events will take place in the Bertelsmann Campus Center and are free and open to the public. The exhibition will shows photographs that depict everyday life in Iraq, as well as the ravages inflicted by exposure to depleted uranium (DU), a toxic nuclear waste, denser than lead, used by the Pentagon in armor piercing weaponry. Thousands of tons of radioactive DU have been dropped on Iraq, both during the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the amount grows daily. Takashi Morizumi, whose photographs are featured in the exhibition, is with the Global Association for Banning Depleted Uranium Weapons. He documented the children of Iraq since 1998 and wrote the text for The Children of the Gulf War, which will be available for purchase at the opening. The exhibition will also include Life photographer Derek Hudson’s photo essay, “Tiny Victims of the Gulf War,” as well as photos Kyne took while on tour in the Gulf War. “As more Americans become aware that we are putting civilians and our own troops at risk with the use of DU, we hope they will rise up and demand that DU be banned and all returning soldiers get tested and treated. They deserve nothing less,” says Barbara Upton of Women in Black, New Paltz, one of the cosponsors of the show. She notes that according to idust.net, a fired DU shell ignites on impact and vaporizes into a deadly dust that when inhaled can result in cancers, leukemia, irreparable damage to lungs, liver, kidneys, and more, according to the International Depleted Uranium Study Team. Michele Riddell of SAFE Legacy, another sponsor, added, “These photos reveal what most mainstream media and the Pentagon have chosen to ignore. For the sake of the world’s children this silence needs to be broken.” “AmericanFreePress.org reported that in one unit in Iraq, eight out of 20 returning U.S. soldiers have developed malignancies in the last 16 months,” Riddell said. In the December 2004 issue of Vanity Fair, David Rose notes that, “Heroic soldiers returning from Iraq seem to be prey to the same debilitating, potentially fatal illnesses that first became known as Gulf War syndrome and then affected veterans of Bosnia and Kosovo. Critics point to the U.S.’s own ammunition made of toxic, radioactive depleted uranium—an explanation the Pentagon is resisting.” Angela Morano, of Saugerties Committee for Peace and Social Justice, also cosponsoring the exhibit, said that more than a quarter of a million veterans from Operation Desert Storm are currently on disability. For further information about the exhibition and program, contact Angela Morano, 845-246-8952, [email protected]; Michele Riddell, 845-255-5482, [email protected]; or Barbara Upton, 845-626-4488, [email protected]. # # # (1/27/05)

This event was last updated on 01-28-2005

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