Remembering boom and bust in Finnish uranium exploration: An artist’s view from the ground

Twenty-year boom and bust cycles characterise the history of Finnish uranium exploration since its beginning in the 1950s. These oscillations, reflecting wider trends in world economy, energy politics, and general interest in nuclear power, are not only evidenced on the pages of industry reports and published research but can be felt through the material traces of uranium prospecting and mining. Drill holes, quarries, and rehabilitated mines linger in the Finnish landscape as evidence of 70 years of repeated attempts to exploit the country’s uranium deposits.

The rhythms of anti-uranium mining activism follow those of uranium exploration, and, just like periods of intensive prospecting and mining, the dissident voices, too, were recorded in the Finnish bedrock where they survive in the form of environmental rock carvings created by artists and activists opposing uranium mining. In this paper, I give an overview of Finnish anti-uranium mining rock art and, through a case study on the reconstruction and public re-reveal of one such artwork, reflect on how ritualised revisiting of environmental art could serve as a platform for remembering and understanding boom and bust in Finnish uranium exploration.