Whatshot
Broken Land Exhibition Opening
Broken Land Exhibition Opening
Paul's work explores the direct impact of fuel-burning coal stations on the local economy, farming community and broader climate change issues. The polluting power stations not only contribute to global climate change but through toxic sulphur, also to the poisoning of scarce water supplies for a range of communities who are dependent on these for their survival.
The power dynamics in the area have in recent times been drawn into the national political arena. Eskom and a conglomerate of mines owned by the Gupta family are embroiled in corruption and nepotism scandals that have affected the very highest echalons of the South African government and all levels of the economy.
The aim of Paul's project is as he says is, "to look at both the macro issues like pollution, poverty and climate change while also personalizing the experience of the local people who are on the front lines of this crisis. This provide us with a glimpse of what the future could be like for the country and indeed the SADC region."
After spending two years documenting on the ground, Paul says, "I can testify that the scale of destruction in Mpumalanga is wholescale. From the highways and major roads, it is difficult to get a sense of how vast the torn-up landscape is because it is often hidden behind tailings, piled close to the side of the road. It's easy to get mesmerized by the sheer size of the mines, machines and power stations that fuel South Africa's addiction to coal. It's easy to forget that this affects human beings whose stories are even more beautiful and tragic than the landscape that mirrors their lives."
This exhibition is simultaneously a documentation of the cost of extracting and burning coal, an indictment against any notion of "clean coal" and a testimony to the reality of those living close to coal mines. The project he concludes, "is also a portent into the terrifying future we face as a planet as climate change and the cumulative effect of decades of pollution adds up and demands a reckoning. It is an invaluable interrogation from the frontline of the battle to save the earth and, perhaps, our own humanity."

