Crystal Bennes – Klara and the Bomb

‘Klara and the Bomb’ is a fascinating work that charts connecting threads between the invention of modern computers, the history of nuclear weapons, and the narratives of the women involved. Artist-researcher Crystal Bennes combines fieldwork images with archival research, declassified documents, military propaganda, historical images, and an extensive textual narrative to shed light on the little-known life of Klara von Neumann. This Hungarian-American woman is considered one of the first computer programmers. Her story highlights the extent to which women were involved in the development of both computing and nuclear weapons from the 1940s onwards.