Page 34 - Culture Mag
P. 34
The bright summer weeks were full of life in Jukkasjärvi, but when fall and winter arrived, desolation embraced the village.
It was dark, cold and completely empty of guests.
He went on an inspirational trip to Japan. There he discovered artists who worked on the material that fills Torne River in the winter ice. In 1989 he invited two Japanese ice sculptors to Jukkasjärvi to lead an art workshop for sculptors from northern Sweden.
In winter 1989-1990 the 250 square meter igloo Artic Hall opened, an art gallery with art created out of of ice and snow.
« On a cold winter day, all of our warm cabins were booked for the night but we had a group that wanted to stay the night. I suggested that they could
sleep in the cold Artic Hall.
To my surprise, the guests said yes so we equipped them with warm sleeping bags and instructed them how to sleep in the cold. The morning after they were blown away by the experience. »
