At Røsshue, uttermost on Kirkøy, we find an exciting coastline full of remnants of former stonemasonry. Stonemasonry has a strong tradition in Hvaler.

Røsshue is included in the Outer Hvaler National Park. The project is managed by Hvaler Kunstforening (Hvaler Art Association) in collaboration with Rotary Hvaler. Hvaler municipality and Fylkesmannens miljøvernavdeling (The County Department of Environment) gave permission for initially five artworks at Røsshue. The goal was to invite an internationally known sculptor each year to work with local stone and leave behind a piece of art in the coastal landscape at Røsshue. This resulted in an exciting encounter between old local stonemasonry and modern international sculptures in this fantastic landscape by the ocean. The project was made possible by public support and grants, as well as financial contributions from bussinesses and individuals. The fifth and latest work so far was unveiled in 2009. The five artists have different international backgrounds. The first artist to have his stone sculpture unveiled in 2005. was Norwegian-Italian Allessandro Stenico.

The five artists and artworks represented at Røsshue are:

Witnesses of the Past   -   2005 - Norwegian-Italian Allessandro Stenico

Allessandro Stenico was the first contributor to StenKunstHvaler (StoneArtHvaler) with his tre-piece work Fortidens vitner (Witnesses of the Past). Monumental and contieemplative at the same time. Two slender and abstract columns with female and male elements included, stretching towards the sky, while the rolling stones in the foreground have scratches that associates to the spiral of life.

Tribute to Røsshue   -   2006 - Japanese Makoto Fujiware

"Hyllest til Røsshue" (Tribute to Røsshue)  - a comtemplative room from 2006 - was made by the Japanese sculptor Makato Fujiwara. In an already existing niche in the mountain, excess stone is used to shape horizontal lines and levels. Here and there fracture surfaces have been macined and polished, while parts of the vegetation have been honed in collaboration with a landcaping architect. Mr. Fujiwara comes to Hvaler once a year to trim "his tree". There is a special harmony at the site, ideal for tranquility and comtemplation.

Reflection   -   2007 - Norwegian Vegard Hanve

In 2007, sculptor Vegard Hanve envisioned a bow shaped projection in the bedrock and processed it. The work is called "Refleksjon" (Reflection), and relates faithfully to the surroundings and inspires respect for the ancient labor of the stonemasons. The red granite of Handve's and Fujiwaras artworks, can give us associations to a desert landscape.

A Walk Towards the Light of the Horizon   -   2008 - Swedish Ann Carlsson Korneev

"En vandring imot horisontens lys" (A Walk Towards the Light of the Horizon), is Ann Carlsson Korneev's contribution to the sculpture park. The oval shapes openly associate to an eye, and the horizon is captured precisely through this eye, which frames a part of it.

Yellow Lophelia   -   2009 - Norwegian Gunn Harbitz

The international sculpture park at Røsshue on Kirkøy was completed in the autumn of 2009 with Gunn harbitz' sculture "Gul Lophelia" (Yellow Lophelia). The park is now included in the now protected area of the Outer Hvaler National Park.

Gunn Harbitz' sculpture cuts right to the heart of the philosophy behind the creation of the national park, which is Norway's first underwater national park - the protection of underwater values. Corals, which are often referred to as the ocean's rain forest, are the basis for the national park. 96 percent of the park's more than 350 square kilometers, is located below sea level. The area covers kelp forests, tall underwater rock walls and the more than 1,200 meters long Tisler Reef, one of the world's largest inshore cold water coral reefs.

Gunn Harbitz has called her sculpture "a tribute and poral to the national park. The Coral Yellow Lophelia stems from the Tisler Reef and was brought to the artist's attention by the University Bilogical Station. For ..... years forests of cold water corals in the deepest secrecy grown into large reefs. The Lophelia came before the dinosaurs - and have survived major global disasters, but are today threatened by seabed trawlers and pollution.

The sculpture Gul Lophelia is made of gabbro and weighs 7.6 tonnes. Massive windscreens in blue-black stone serve as the corals' walls and the darkness of the ocean. They are powerfully tactile, like silk to the touch, and inspire the thought that it must be the ocean waves that washed the stone so smooth and soft. The shell-shaped stone walls stand as guardians and protectors of the treasure on the ocean floor. This secret treasure - a yellow lophelia - is mounted in a mirrored box in the granite. The elements of light, sea and sky make the coral sparkle like the purest jewel.

Røsshue in Hvaler
At Røsshue, uttermost on Kirkøy, we find an exciting coastline full of remnants of former stonemasonry. Stonemasonry has a strong tradition in Hvaler. It was not the usual granite that laid the foundation for stonemasons and mining here, but the mining of feldspar. AS many as 50 men worked in the mines here in 1880. The mining peaked between the end of the 1880s and the early 1900s. The general mining stopped abruptly at the start of the 1st World War, and the activity never picked up again to previous heights. One reason was that stone to a certain extent was replaced by other materials such as concrete and asphalt. Then came the hard thirties with lower demand.