And then what?

Program

The symposium is organized in collaboration with the National Collections of Music, Theatre and Dance, the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy, and the Institute for Language and Folklore.

It will take place over two days, 7–8 December 2026, at the Swedish Museum of Performing Arts in Stockholm. The symposium will be held in English and is open to the public, registration required.

Register by 1 December at owe.ronstrom@etnologi.uu.se.

Monday, 7 December

9:30 Registration and coffee

10:00–10:15 Welcome and introduction
Martin Sundin, Director General, Statens musikverk – National Collections of Music, Theatre and Dance.
Owe Ronström, Professor Emeritus in Ethnology, Uppsala University

10:15–11:15 Paper 1: Following UNESCOs concept across international, national and local levels.
Emilie Paaske Drachman, Research Librarian, Royal Danish Library

11:15–12:15 Paper 2 “The UNESCO process in Kaustinen, Finland: changing heritage discourses & competing political interests”.
Outi Valo, PhD, Finnish Folk Music Institute & University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

12:15–12:45 Lunch break. (Sandwiches for registered participants provided by The National Collections of Music, Theatre and Dance.)

12:45–13:45 Panel 1: From nomination to inscription – and then what?
Panelists:
Tine Winther, Operations Manager at Sagobygden/Berättarnätet Kronoberg
Fredrik Leijonhuvud, Nordic steering committee for clinker-built boat traditions.
Outi Valo, PhD, Finnish Folk Music Institute & University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland
Olov Johansson, Nyckelharpa-musician and maker, composer.  

Moderator: Charlotte Hyltén-Cavallius, Research Archivist, Institute for Language and Folklore.

13:45–14:00 Closing remarks

18:00 Dinner for invited guests

Tuesday, 8 December

9:00–10:00 Paper 3: Interrogating intangible cultural heritage: from discourses to dispositives.
Antti-Ville Villén, Professor, Cultural Study of Music, University of the Arts. Helsinki, Finland.

10:00–10:30 Coffee

10:30–11:30 Paper 4 Who Is Watching? Inscribed Elements, Institutional Capacities and the Actors of Safeguarding in Slovakia.
Jana Ambrózová, Musical anthropologist, singer and violinist, Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia / Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava

11:30–12:30 Lunch. (Sandwiches for registered participants provided by The National Collections of Music, Theatre and Dance.)

12:30–14:00 Workshop
Olov Johansson, Nyckelharpa-musician and -maker, composer.
Mats Wester, Nyckelharpa-musician and -maker, music creator.

14:00–15:00 Panel 2: Medal or springboard – what could a UNESCO inscription lead to?
Panelists:
Maria Nyström, Senior advisor, Institute for Language and Folklore.
Martin Sundin, Director General, The National Collections of Music, Theatre and Dance.
Maria Wilenius, Secretary General Swedish National Commission for UNESCO
Emilie Paaske Drachman, Research Librarian, Royal Danish Library

Moderator: Dan Lundberg, Associate professor, Ethnomusicologist

15:00–15:30 Coffee

15:30–16:30 What next? Open discussion
Moderator: Owe Ronström, Professor Emeritus in Ethnology, Uppsala University

16:30 Closing