Folk Song Lab
Folk Song Lab – Deconstruction, Improvisation, and Flow is an artistic research project that explores collective improvisation with folk song as its starting point. Through experimental sessions, methods and artistic concepts are tested and developed, and subsequently further refined in new contexts.
Project manager and accountable authority: Susanne Rosenberg, KMH
Co-applicant: Fredrik Ullén, Karolinska Institutet
Funder: The Research Council (artistic research)
Project period: 2019-2022
Purpose and research questions
Folk Song Lab began in 2015 and has developed into a platform for artistic experimentation with a focus on collective improvisation. Its aim is to explore how artistic processes can evolve by combining improvisation, deconstruction, and flow with the cognitive framework of folk song as a foundation.
The project revolves around questions such as:
- How can collective improvisation function as a method for artistic creation within the framework of the folk song tradition?
- Which artistic and pedagogical methods emerge and continue to develop through recurring sessions?
- How can artistic outcomes be documented, analyzed, and transformed into new knowledge?
At the core of the project are the recurring sessions in which different approaches are tested, developed, and sometimes carried forward into new contexts. After the VR-funded period (2019–2022), the focus has shifted to analyzing and summarizing the project’s experiences. A methodology handbook is currently in development, and the project continues to contribute through artistic productions, conference and keynote presentations, seminars, workshops, and new sessions.
Collaborating parties
During 2019–2022, Folk Song Lab received funding from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), which enabled the intensification of the project and its international collaborations. Work continues beyond this period of funding, with recurring publications, artistic works, and presentations in international contexts.
Books on Artistic Process
- Rosenberg, S. (2022c). Konstnärlig process – En inspirationshandbok ur musikerperspektiv. Stockholm: Udda toner.
- Rosenberg, S. (2022d). Artistic Process – An Inspirational Guide from a Musician’s Perspective. Stockholm: Udda toner.
These books describe several of the methods that form the foundation of Folk Song Lab, including how flow parameters can be used as artistic catalysts.