19 new art suites are coming up – including a sauna made of ice
Press Release September 23, 2020
The Northern Lights have made their first appearance for the season, the snow will soon begin to fall and the creation of Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi has already started This year’s art at Icehotel is created by 19 teams with a total of 35 artists. Even now, guests can visit and sleep amid snow-and-ice art in the part of the hotel that is open year round, Icehotel 365, where the creation of six new art suites is now in progress.
1 300 blocks of ice were harvested from the Torne River this spring, and the construction team is now awaiting sub-zero temperatures and the first snowfall to be able to start construction of the winter hotel. Concurrently, the creation of six new art suites in the permanent part of Icehotel is now under way. A total of 19 art teams (link) will come to Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden during the autumn. Together with the ice production, building team, art support and lighting teams, they will create 6 new Art - and Deluxe Suites in Icehotel 365 and 12 Art Suites, a Ceremony Hall for weddings and events and the main hall in Icehotel Winter – all on Nature's terms.
First on location, to make the art suite Kodex Maximus of ice and snow, are artists Julia Gamborg Nielsen and Lotta Lampa. They are now on site at Icehotel.
"It's wonderful to be back at Icehotel and work with the most sustainable materials; ice and snow that melt and return to nature. In this year's art suite, guests will enter an organic world, a potential future with transformation, balance and reflection in focus," explain artists Lotta Lampa and Julia Gamborg Nielsen.
A SAUNA MADE OF ICE AND A FROZEN WINTER GARDEN
Guests visiting Icehotel this autumn and winter can also look forward to entering a room filled with typographic art, or sleep in a forgotten hotdog stand made of ice and snow. One of the art suites features a frozen winter garden and, in another, a world full of toys made from ice and snow offers experiences that bring out the child in us. In the deluxe suite "Sauna", guests are welcomed into an ice-cold sauna. If the temperature doesn't meet expectations there, freezing cold can quickly be replaced by a hot sauna experience in a private relaxation room available for guests in all of the deluxe suites.
35 ARTISTS AND A SECRET GUEST TO BE REVEALED
The 35 artists have been hand-picked by the art team, led by the hotel's Creative Director Luca Roncoroni.
"With many years of experience in creating art from ice and snow, this year's artists have also had a share in Icehotel's 31-year history. Together, the artists will create a magnificent experience at Icehotel," says Luca Roncoroni, Creative Director.
New this year is that Icehotel has invited one person to engage in special collaboration in the creation of one of the art suites. This collaboration will be presented in October.
On December 11th the doors will open to this year's version of Icehotel, but guests can already sleep amid ice art, marvel at the Northern Lights, experience wilderness adventure and even watch art take form in the permanent part of Icehotel, Icehotel 365.
Art and artists
ICEHOTEL 31 – 12 NEW ART SUITES
- Nina Kauppi and Johan Kauppi. Award-winning product designers who have created everything from the Ohm lamp in collaboration with Ifö Electrics, the outdoor gym “Kebne” and jewelry for Tiffany & Co.
- Lena Kriström and Nina Hedman. Sculptors who work in various materials such as snow, ice, stone and magnetite. Residents of Jukkasjärvi and Stockholm.
- Tjåsa Gusfors and Ulrika Tallving. Artist, performer (Tjåsa) and sculptor and stylist (Ulrika), who have created many fabulous ice-and-snow experiences at Icehotel.
- Karl-Johan Ekeroth and Christian Strömqvist. Duo from PinPinStudio, a design studio with a focus on playful experiences, both digital and physical.
- John Bark and Charli Kasselbäck. Magazine layout and graphic designers with a great love of typography.
- Emelie Steele. Multi-faceted artist whose creations include dolls that each have a story to tell.
- Linda Vagnelind and Ida Collin. Two sisters who meet in their passion for challenges and adventures. The artist Vagnelind, active in his studio / gallery and the behavioral scientist Collin.
- Carl Wellander & Nils Wellander. Carl works as a sculptor in ceramics, bronze, stone and snow. This year he creates an art suite together with his son, illustrator and artist.
- Henkia. Francisco Cortés, working under the name Henkia. Based in Berlin and Stockholm, he works mainly as a painter, but explores other art forms such as video, music, photography and design.
- Lukas Petko. Lukas Petko is a Slovakian architect, designer and illustrator blending functional architecture with a sense of childlike wonder.
- Julia Adzuki, Patrick Dallard & Esmilda Adzuki-Dallard. Artist duo and recurring artists at Icehotel. Works as an artist (Julia), designer and set designer (Patrick). This year they bring their daughter to Icehotel.
- Collaboration TBA
ICEHOTEL 31 – CEREMONY HALL
- Anna Öhlund and John Pettersson. Photographer and artist (Anna), ice sculptor and lighting designer (John), who have previously created art suites featuring imaginative use of sound and light at Icehotel.
ICEHOTEL 365 – 6 NEW ART & DELUXE SUITES
- Lotta Lampa & Julia Gamborg Nielsen. Artists and designers who have created several art suites at Icehotel. Inspired by nature, other cultures and day-to-day life.
- Kestutis Musteikis & Vytautas Musteikis. Highly creative artists and Icehotel veterans with an eye for details and a deft hand at working in different materials.
- Edith van De Wetering & Wilfred Stijger. Artistic duo from the Netherlands who, in addition to creating many art suites at Icehotel, also create art in sand and water the world over.
- Elisabeth Kristensen & Dave Ruane. Snow, ice and sand artist (Elisabeth) and industrial designer (Dave). Duo with many years of experience in construction and art creation at Icehotel.
- Wouter Biegelaar & Viktor Tsarski. A product designer and an architect/artist from the Netherlands and Bulgaria who have created several art suites at Icehotel over the years.
- Luca Roncoroni. Italian-Norwegian architect with a keen eye for details and creative art concepts. Creative Director at Icehotel.
About Icehotel
Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi opened in 1989. In addition to being a hotel it is also an art exhibition, with original art in ice and snow, that changes from season to season. Each winter a new version of Icehotel is created entirely from ice from the Torne River, one of Sweden's National Heritage Rivers, which are protected from hydroelectric development. When the winter season’s hotel of ice and snow has melted and returned to the river in spring, part of the hotel remains – a place where visitors can enjoy experiences of ice and snow all year round.
Facts in brief
- 44 warm hotel rooms
- 28 heated cabins
- 18 year-round-open art suites of ice (minus 5 degrees Celsius), of which 9 deluxe suites with adjoining heated relaxation room featuring bath/shower, sauna and toilet.
- 32 winter-open art suites of ice (minus 5 degrees Celsius)
- 1 accessibility-adapted art suite (minus 5 degrees Celsius)
- 1 Experience Room with a cinema that also can be rented for private events (minus 5 degrees Celsius)
- 3 Meeting rooms for up to 100 persons
- 1 Ceremonial room for wedding and events (mid-Dec to mid-April)
- 2 bars, including 1 iconic Icebar
- 2 Restaurant
- 2 Saunas, one relax and 1 sauna experience with woodheated bath and dip in Torne River.
- 3 Wilderness camps
