Sauna Sessions and Swimming Season are interdisciplinary art projects exploring communal bathing and sauna culture as spaces for care, reflection, and collective experience. These projects investigate the body’s relationship to nature and public space, reimagining traditional rituals as tools for inclusivity and social connection.
At the heart of these projects is naked bathing, an intimate and transformative experience that challenges societal norms. In the sauna, hierarchies dissolve, and participants engage in an environment free from judgment, where nudity is optional but normalized. By creating temporary bathing spaces in nature reserves, forests, and urban environments, the projects redefine public space as a site for vulnerability, trust, and dialogue.
Swimming Season extends this exploration by emphasizing seasonal shifts in collective bathing. In colder months, participants engage in breathwork exercises in freezing water, confronting the body’s instinctive responses and developing resilience through collective support. In summer, bathing becomes more playful and social, fostering joy and shared presence.
A key aspect is collaboration with nude bathing associations and communities. These partnerships offer insight into the historical and cultural aspects of naturism while fostering accessibility and deeper discussions on body politics, public space, and collective care.
Through site-specific interventions, installations, and documentation, Sauna Sessions explore the intersection of body, landscape, and social structures. Inspired by Nordic traditions of wild swimming and sauna rituals, they create inclusive spaces where the body can exist beyond imposed norms, encouraging new ways of experiencing nature and each other.