North of the Arctic Circle, the swedish city of Kiruna owes its existence to a mining company and finds itself existentially threatened by these very same excavations. Each portion of ore taken out of the mine is followed by waste rock falling from above, making the ground to sink gradually, causing deformations at ground level. In 2004 the municipality of Kiruna started a project to move the city centre and its cultural heritage buildings some 3 kilometres away to some different sites. Some of the existing houses, around 20 of them, will be moved to the new city centre, starting from summer 2017 onwards. The first building finished in the new area was the city hall in 2018.

 

This is a visual approach to the often paradox relationship between the mine and the city. The city does only exist because of the mine and at the same time people are forced to start a new existence somewhere else due to the mining operations. At the moment there is a mix of grieve and hope prevailing: People have to take their memories that were tied to places with them and trust the vision of a place that does not exist yet. A visual story that plays with the complex relationship between dependence, necessity, and nostalgia.