
Chernobyl 40 years on, Paula Rego at Munch in Oslo, Gluck’s flower painting
From The Week in Art by The Art Newspaper
April 23, 2026 · 57 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, exhibitions featuring Paula Rego and Gluck's flower painting.
This Sunday, 26 April, marks the 40th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Soviet Ukraine. It is the most serious disaster ever to occur in the nuclear power industry, with widespread effects then and now. An exhibition at the Nikolaikirche in Potsdam, Germany, called The Chernobyl disaster: 40 years ago and yet still relevant, continues until Monday 27 April, and Ben Luke speaks to one of its organisers, Olha Kovalevska. A new exhibition at Munch, the museum in Oslo, explores the work of Paula Rego, with new research on her interest in the artist after whom the museum is named, Edvard Munch. Ben speaks to the curator of the exhibition, which is called Paula Rego: Dance Among Thorns, Kari J. Brandtzæg. And this episode’s Work of the Week is Convolvulus (1940) by Gluck, the mononymous British painter. The picture is part of the exhibition called Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today, which opens this weekend at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, UK. Ben speaks to its co-curator, Naomi Polonsky, about the work. The Chernobyl disaster: 40 years ago and yet still relevant, Nikolaikirche, Potsdam, Germany, until 27 April. Paula Rego – Dance Among Thorns…
People in this episode
Host: Ben Luke
Guests: Olha Kovalevska, Kari J. Brandtzæg, Naomi Polonsky
Topics covered
- Chernobyl disaster
- Paula Rego
- art exhibitions
- flower painting
- nuclear power
- visual arts
Keywords
- Chernobyl
- Paula Rego
- art exhibitions
- Gluck
- flower painting
- nuclear disaster
- visual arts
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Munch, Kettle’s Yard
Books & works: Convolvulus (1940)
Places: Soviet Ukraine, Nikolaikirche, Potsdam, Germany
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