On the night of 2nd December 1984, deadly gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. Now known as the world’s worst industrial disaster, it has claimed the lives of more than 25,000 people to date. But few people know of the ongoing ‘second disaster’ in Bhopal: four decades on, toxic waste from the abandoned factory continues to sink into the earth, poising the water of tens of thousands more people.

This exhibition draws attention to the ongoing water crisis in Bhopal and the activism of water-affected communities. Produced by the University of Leeds’ LivingBodiesObjects project in partnership with the Bhopal Medical Appeal, it is the culmination of a collaborative research project in which we explored new ways of telling the story of groundwater contamination in Bhopal. Our interviews with members of water-affected communities, original artworks, striking photography, and experiments with digital storytelling form the heart of the exhibition.