A temporary wood-fired sauna has been set up in the middle of Clemenstorget in Lund for the entire month of January, organized by artists to provide warmth and new social encounters in the winter cold. Sauna bathers enjoy hot sessions followed by ice-cold showers, and the event has quickly become popular with fully booked slots.
Red, happy, and relaxed faces light up the wintry Clemenstorget in Lund. They belong to sauna bathers who have just enjoyed the warmth of a wood-fired sauna temporarily set up in the middle of the square. The event is organized by artists Otto Vretare, Emelie Carlsson Gras, and Carlos Clavijo every day throughout January, aiming to create warmth and new meeting places in winter.
The sauna, built on a circus wagon, holds up to 15 people per session and has been fully booked so far. Bathers walk barefoot through powder snow into the sauna for a Sufi sauna experience with scents like cinnamon. Afterward, Emelie Carlsson Gras pours ice-cold water over them with a watering can, while passing Lund residents stop in surprise.
"We want to create warmth and new meeting places in winter," says Emelie Carlsson Gras. She recalls an earlier project by artist Peter Johansson in 1997, "The Scandinavian Sauna Project," which drew 30,000 visitors to Lund's art hall. Now, they honor the tradition with extras like aufguss rituals involving steam and essential oils, music, lights, and film.
Sauna bather Orion Righard laughs: "A strange feeling. To stand like this in the middle of town in front of Ica Malmborgs." Maria Wagner, who tried it with friend Sofie Westling, calls out: "Super cozy!" Other reactions include "insanely nice" and an older woman's surprise: "I never thought I'd show myself in a bikini on Clemenstorget." On New Year's Day, three Vietnamese women visited the sauna for the first time, an experience they wanted before heading home.
The intimate sauna in the public square encourages authentic encounters, according to the organizers.
