Department of Traditional Arts and Traditional Music

112

Study Programmes Employees

The department (ITF) is located at our study centre in Rauland. We have a practically- and performance-oriented profile.

The Department of Traditional Arts and Folk Music (ITF) has a national responsibility within Norway for higher education in the fields of the traditional arts, folk music and folkart.

Our department is relatively small, but it is significant in the context of our specialist subjects. It has high levels of formal qualifications and is characterised by a clear commitment to practical application.

We have a broad collaborative network within Norway, and can boast extended collaborative links (in the form of projects and teacher and student exchange) with similar practically-oriented educational centres across Europe in countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, France, Ireland and the UK.

Our courses

The Department offers a one-year programme and bachelor’s degree in folk art, with in-depth studies in woodwork, metalwork or textiles and folk music, taken as an inclusive master’s degree in the traditional arts.

We also offer a number of one-year studies, further education programmes and other shorter courses.

All our study programmes are characterised by a highly practically- and performance-oriented profile.

Network

The Department is, among others:

  • a member of the NORDTRAD Folk Music Network, together with 15 other educational centres in the Scandinavian and Baltic region.
  • a key player in the network NordFO (The Nordic Forum for Research and Development in Educational Sloyd), which is composed of researchers and educational institutions from the Scandinavian and Baltic region specialising in the fields of arts and handicrafts.
  • a member of the Nordic Research Network for Vocal Folk Music (NoFoVoFo). This network is comprised of researchers, educationalists, archivists and performing artists drawn from the Scandinavian countries.
  • a member of the NordPlus Network for Nordic and Baltic Theatre, Dance and Crafts Institutions in Higher Education, which is a collaborative association involving five other Scandinavian universities and the Samisk University College. 

Our research groups

The research group Praksis, tradisjon og teknologi (practice, tradition and technology) takes its cue from our intangible cultural heritage and the traditional arts, and investigates what lies in the term tradition, and how traditional processes have been formed by, and how they themselves form, new technologies.

We collaborate with groups such as the Human Ingenuity Research Group at the University of West Ontario, and Empirica at the Universities of Helsinki and Aalto.

Publications

A list of our publications can be found in the Cristin research database.

Artistic development work

Many of our employees are active and award-winning artists, practising and performing at very high levels within their respective fields.

Many of them are also active musicians. A small selection of the albums released by our employees in recent years is listed below:

2020:

  • Egeland–Marin: ‘Farvel, farvel’
  • Per Åsmund Omholt: ‘Vara ungkar og gå fri’ – released in the spring of 2020.
  • Unni Boksasp Tytebæret, ‘Perleskum’ (on the Ta:lik label)

2019:

  • Unni Boksasp Fryd, ‘Cantus’ (on the 2L label)
  • Anne Gravir Klykken: Vocals on the record ‘Hielo azul Tierra Roja’. Per Einar Watle (guitar), here together with the well-known Argentinian accordionist Chango Spasiuk, with additional musicians Kenneth Ekornes (percussion), Steinar Raknes (bass) and Marcos Villalba (percussion and guitar). This record represents an encounter between Norway and Argentina and was released during the Oslo World Festival in November 2019.
  • Egeland–Edén–Marin: ‘Volum 1’ (Nominated for the Folkelarm Award)

2018:

  • The Ragnhild Furholt Trio: ‘Vårevinden’ (on the Ta:lik label)
  • Ånon Egeland with Lucy Moffatt: ‘Egeland spiller Fjeldstad’

2017:

  • Unni Boksasp: ‘Opus 72017’, The Unni Boksasp Ensemble (on the UBE label)
  • Egeland–Marin: ‘Sorpesoll’ (Nominated for the Spellemann Award and winner of the Folkelarm Award)

2016:

  • Ragnhild Furholt: ‘Folkesong i Vest-Agder’ – a book and two CDs. Published by Portal and the Vest-Agder County Authority.
  • Ragnhild Knudsen: ‘Ljose-Signe’, with the group Glima.

Department of Traditional Arts and Traditional Music