My current interests are focused in two major directions. The first one is post-Cold-War era remnants, especially in post-Soviet countries. Recently, I made a research-based project on a nuclear polygon in Kazakhstan, in which I combined archival images and my own photography. My other important interest is history and the way in which it is used in contemporary politics and culture. It concerns the growing popularity of historical re-enactment in Poland, as well as the presence of war and its image in art and social life.

I will talk mainly on my project "The Last Conversation with Academician Sakharov", focused on former nuclear polygon in Kazakhstan. It concerns impact of nuclear tests from the Cold War era on nature and humans. The title is bringing out the figure of a great nuclear physicist involved in politics and believing that science can contribute to keeping peace in the world.  

Agnieszka Rayss