18th UiT Environmental Humanities meeting: Tromsø’s Landscape Scar – A Winter Environmental Humanities Walk and Talk

“The moment one uses stone in a building, its meaning changes. All that geologic time becomes human time, is imprisoned. And when that stone falls to ruins, even then it is not released: its scale remains mortal.” – Anne Michaels, The Winter Vault, p 275.

The goal of this walk and talk is to explore the idea above in a place where much of the geological time in Tromsø became released into human time – the quarry in Kroken. Many of the roads we walk on around the city are paved with the aggregate that came from this area with quarrying activities taking place from 1916 to 1980. Quarrying in the area was eventually shut down due to residential encroachment but the remains of the gravel quarry remain a conspicuous landscape scar in the region. The walk and talk will involve an exploration of some of the remaining features of this place and how they are used today. We will have a fire and snacks in the quarry afterwards.

Directions: Meet at the entrance to the quarry off Diamantvegen – https://goo.gl/maps/Jsd1vvtRfLVwjH7WA

The closest bus stop is Turkisvegen accessible by the Number 22 and 24 bus.

Expect deep snow in some places and dress according to the weather. The inside of the quarry is fairly sheltered but there are many exposed portions.

Recommended reading: The Chapter 1 (Introduction) of Post-Industrial Landscape Scars by Anna Storm – https://link-springer-com.mime.uit.no/book/10.1057/9781137025999  (contact organizers if you need a pdf copy)

Header image: Graffiti and ruins in the quarry in Kroken, November 2022.