KUBU DIY-sauna, workshop I

Andrew Gryf Paterson
29.5.–3.6. 2026
KUBU

Andrew Gryf Paterson will initiate an open knowledge ecosystem (Internet Archive, Creative Commons, Wikidata, Wikipedia) around Kulturhus Björkboda and surrounding partner organizations on Kimitoön. In 2026, the focus will begin with the island’s public saunas, their cultural heritage and online representation. This research will be paired with a DIY sauna workshop, where we will build a type of tent sauna based on Paterson’s ongoing experiments.

Workshop I, May-June

In the DIY Sauna workshop we build a stackable brick stove and frame for tarp. The design follows the example sauna in Kitchen Lab Tarvo in Helsinki. We study existing movable and temporary sauna solutions and ideate for improvements. The sauna is the next phase of the community facilities we are building around KUBU after the community greenhouse built in 2025.

Friday 30.5. 13-17 Pre-planning & material inventory
Saturday 30.5. 11-15 Site preparation, construction talkoo
Sunday 31.5. 11-17 Construction talkoo
Monday 1.6. – Wednesday 3.6. Extra build days & test heat 1, Andrew @KUBU

All participants will get soup lunch and VIP life-time sauna pass to all KUBU saunas
KUBU will provide gloves and refreshments.

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Local Sauna heritage

What knowledge is public about Finnish saunas? About Kimitoön/Kemiönsaari’s bathing and sauna culture? Who are the knowledge-holders in the local community again local sauna heritage? Where can you find this information? Are local public saunas represented on tourism websites or Wikipedia articles about the island? Are there any pictures of the public saunas shared to online commons-orientated websites? What are those? How can they be uploaded? Why is it important to do so? Why is it heritage at risk? Celebrate local public sauna culture inspired by UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status of Finnish Sauna.

Workshop II, August

You can contribute to gathering information about public sauna or bathing culture on Kimitoön/Kemiönsaari: By sending references or scans of newspaper articles, book pages extracts, archival or planning documents; learn how to upload your own photographs of Kimitoön/Kemiönsaari public sauna to Wikimedia Commons repository; how to add Wikidata item about a local public sauna.

Monday-Thursday 3.–6.8.2026
Open drop-in sessions at KUBU library
Book a session by contacting Andrew: agryfp@pm.me