Welcome back Krykkja!

Welcome to a celebration of the krykkja return to the city! We haven't seen them up at the art centre yet, and we're so excited to see if the new nesting installations from Tromsø Municipality will appeal to their taste.

The krykkja is a gull species that is increasingly seeking to nest in cities, and it is crucial that cities facilitate this - in the last thirty years, the population in Norway has declined by 75%.

On Saturday 11 March from 1 pm, we will light a bonfire and serve hot cocoa, coffee and waffles outside the art association. There will be slam poetry and music by Ingvild Austgulen. Inside we have a children's workshop where you can paint your own krykkja sculpture, and at 2pm seabird researcher Tone Kristin Reiertsen will give a talk about the krykkja in Tromsø followed by a conversation with artist Kåre Grundvåg and architect Kjeld Nash about the krykkja hotels.

Krykkjehotellene was funded by Tromsø Municipality and developed by AT Plan & Arkitektur by Kjeld Nash in collaboration with artists Lawrence Malstaff and Kåre Aleksander Grundvåg, in close dialogue with researchers Tone Kristin Reiertsen and Karl-Otto Jacobsen at NINA, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.

Kåre Grundvåg's contribution is part of Tromsø Kunstforening's outdoor project ‘Goahtegieddi - Finngamsletta’, which is supported by KORO, the Norwegian Directorate for Culture and Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond and will continue until the art organisation's 100th anniversary in 2024.