Media Library: Art Series, Exhibition — Cornelia, the Reluctant Activist

A Swiss scientific illustrator specializing in drawing insects, Cornelia Hesse-Honegger saw her life turned upside down in 1987, the year when, following the Chernobyl disaster, she began collecting insects near nuclear power plants—both those that had suffered accidents and those that had not—and drawing them, revealing to the general public both their stunning beauty and their disturbing mutations. Her discoveries caused a scandal: immediately rejected by the scientific community, they gradually gained international recognition within artistic and activist circles.