Dr. Conohar Scott (b. Belfast, 1975) is a lecturer in photographic theory and a practicing artist at the School of Media & Film, University of Lincoln, UK. His academic research interests include exploring the historical representation of industrial pollution in photography and designing art for environmental advocacy. As part of his research practice, Conohar founded the artist-led collective Environmental Resistance, which is currently comprised of an environmental scientist, a photographer and a graphic designer. The purpose of the collective is to raise awareness of industrial pollution and campaign for environmental remediation.
This publication represents a collaboration with the activist group No Al Carbone (‘No to Coal’ or NAC), who are a group of environmental activists from Brindisi, Puglia, Italy. The NAC activists have a strong regional presence and for many years have been campaigning against unchecked industrial development in the nearby Brindisi Industrial Zone, which is four times larger than the adjacent city of Brindisi. The Industrial Zone is home to four coal-fired power stations, a host of petro-chemical manufacturing plants and bio-mass incinerators. Furthermore, it has been identified by the Italian government as an ‘Area at High Risk of Environmental Crisis’ (Law number 349/1986/art.1) and as a ‘Site of National Interest for Regeneration’ (Law number 426, 1998). The incredible quantity of pollutants present and their particularly toxic nature have had a devastating impact on the health of the local population and ecosystems alike. NAC
The Almásfüzitő: An Index project was conducted in partnership with Greenpeace, Hungary, in order to protest against a licence issued by the Hungarian Environmental Protection Authority (April 2011), which granted a company named as TATAI permission to blend 166 toxic industrial wastes, and a further 244 non-toxic industrial wastes, into the already toxic red mud ponds of the the Almásfüzitő Aluminium Factory on the banks of the Danube. Almasfuzito
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