Since 1985, international stone sculptors have been invited every two years to the quarry of Tjodalyng/Larvik in southern Norway, to work sculptural with the local blue-crystalline Larvikite. The content of the Symposium Norge is based on the original stone sculptor symposia of the 1960s and follows the tradition of offering artists the freedom to work collectively and away from studio- and commercial requirements.
The artist comes to the stone and encounters industry, nature and new artistic challenges. After a 3-year break, the Symposium Norge invited nine international
sculptors in July 2022 to the 20th International Larvikite Sculpture Symposium Norge in cooperation with
the stone industry of Lundhs AS and the Kunstfelt Stålaker.
The Symposium house and the Stålaker quarry
Living and working at the same place and at the origin of the stone. Since 1990, the Symposium House has served the sculptors from all over the world as a meeting place and as accommodation during the symposium. It is located directly at the foot of Lundhs Stålaker quarry and offers short distances to the workplace, as well as a central location between the cities of Larvik and Sandefjord, in the municipality of Vestfold / Norway.
The Larvikite from Larvik
The Larvik district in southern Norway is blessed with the monzonite variety named Larvikite. It was formed during a period of strong volcanic activity about 300 million years ago, cooled off and hardened at depths of 8-9.000 meters. The above lying material has since eroded, bringing the Larvikite to the surface. It contains beautiful blue crystals made of alkali feldspar, which refract the light in such a way, that the resulting play of colors often is called labradorization. This stone is therefore also known as Labrador, because of this optical effect.
Labrador has several varieties, where the background color, the size and the color of the crystals vary. The best known types are Blue Pearl, Emerald Pearl and Marina Pearl. Common for all are the large shining and glittering bluish crystals. Labrador is mainly utilized for facades of prestige buildings, interior decorations and monuments. The Larvik district has since the start of quarrying the resource late last century, become a center of Norwegian stone-production with solid craftsmanship and traditions.
The history of Lundhs
Today, Lundhs is the largest producer of natural stone in Northern Europe. Thor-Anders Lundh Håkestad is the CEO, continuing the proud quarrying traditions with a passion for innovation, quality and precision that started with the founder, Thor Lundh, back in 1962. The company is owned by the Lundh and Treschow families.
The Lundhs story started more than 100 years ago when Alfred Lundh came to Norway from Sweden to run one of the biggest quarrying companies at that time. In 1962, Alfred’s grandson Thor, decided to start his own quarrying company – Lundhs.
Throughout time, innovation has been essential for Lundhs. The areas of
use for natural stone have changed a lot and the ways of extracting have changed completely. Lundhs has always been at the forefront of these changes and will continue to develop production
methods and the utilization of the stone resources for generations to come.
Lundhs Marina
This material is extracted from the Stålaker quarry, close to Larvik. LUNDHS Marina® is characterised by large steel-blue feldspar crystals, and has a homogenous colour.
Stone type: Larvikite (Monzonite)
Origin: Crafted 300 million years ago in Larvik, Norway.