2022

The Pit and the Kit: Addiction, Heroin and the End of Coal-mining in Scotland
30 October 2021 – 30 January 2022

The Pit and the Kit: Addicition, Heroin and the End of Coal-mining in Scotland is a research residency by Dr Laura Roe and Dr Sonja Dobroski, social antropologists at the University of St Andrews.

Over the twentieth century, the slow collapse of Scotland’s coalmining industry cut deep into the economies, communities, and social lives structured around it. In the times of the final major colliery closures, heroin, or ‘kit,’ as it is colloquially known, was flooding into Scotland. Presenting intimate portrayals of contemporary daily life for drug users, this exhibition untangles the thorny relationship of heroin, poly-drug use, and deindustrialisation. Collaboratively curated with people who use drugs, the exhibition shines a light on what coal and community meant to the villages and towns of the Central Belt, and the ongoing efforts to rebuild senses of community, history and hope today. The exhibition features objects, artworks, poems, and photographs from the National Mining Museum’s collections, Fife Cultural Trust, local recovery groups and individuals.