Controversial folklore
The project aims to renew archival research by interacting with discussions on cultural heritage and memory studies, developing the use of folklore materials, creating new community-based methods and considering the ethical responsibilities of archive-based scientific research and artistic activity.
Introduction
The research project focuses on analysing issues of sustainability, ownership and participation in archives, as well as contexts in which archival materials are utilised. The project begins with observations made in archival research and in work on archives as social actors, as well as the significance of community-based work. The project aims to renew archival research by interacting with discussions on cultural heritage and memory studies, developing the use of folklore materials, creating new community-based methods and considering the ethical responsibilities of archive-based scientific research and artistic activity.
The project the research will examine the relationship between archives, communities, archive users and the general public within the frameworks of nationalism, regionalism, cross-border ethnic activism and extreme nationalism in Finland and Eastern Europe. Community involvement in archival research is approached using scientific and artistic research methods. The project’s overarching question is the significance of participation, accessibility, and controversial spaces of archival materials for communities that identify with these materials in various ways. This may relate to the perceived rights of ownership or use of archival materials or to future communities for whom the materials are significant.
The project will result in scientific articles, a research-based roadmap for archive users and concerts. These will promote methodological discussion on archives, produce new community-based archival methods, and stimulate social debate on the relationship between archives and communities. The project will diversify discussions on folklore and folk music by examining communities as multifaceted and contradictory actors. The three-year project is being carried out in collaboration between the Sibelius Academy and the Finnish Folk Music Institute.
Publications
Kujanpää, Emmi. 2026. ”From Solidarity Concerts to Artivism: Transnational European Folk Singing and Folk Singers’ Agency in 2022–2024”. Musiikki 56 (1), 67–103. https://doi.org/10.51816/musiikki.181235.
Valo, Outi and Mäkelä, Heidi Henriikka. 2026. ”A Fiddle for Everyone? Municipal Level Decision Making and the UNESCO Process in Kaustinen, Finland.” In The Spillover Effect of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Exploring the Impact of Intangible Cultural Heritage on Conservation Practices, edited by Bart Zwegers and Renée Vulto.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25352-1_2.
Interviews
Harju, Sara. 2026. ”Viisuvoittaja Dara jakaa Bulgariaa, toisten sankari on toisille lähes saatanallinen” [Eurovision winner Dara divides Bulgaria; one person’s hero is almost satanic to another]. Helsingin Sanomat 24.7.2026. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000012104603.html (Interview from Emmi Kujanpää).
Sinisalo, Saga. 2026. ”Koko maailma pauhaa. Kansanmusiikki kiinnostaa Suomessa koko ajan enemmän. Miksi?” [The whole world is buzzing. Interest in folk music is growing all the time in Finland. Why?] Uusi Juttu 24.7.2026. https://www.uusijuttu.fi/juttu/s3KiMjoz-a1mU8XLw-7c80c (Interview from Outi Valo).
Presentations (in English)
Kuittinen, Emmi. 27.2.2026. The artistic practice and ethical issues of a folk singer in the context of folk traditions expressing grief. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Mäkelä Heidi Henriikka and Outi Valo. 28.2.2026. The concept of folk music in Finland in the 2020s: perceptions, politics, and visions. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Kujanpää Emmi 28.2.2026. Applying Intersectional Feminist Pedagogy in a Transnational Folk Singing Collaboration in Finland and Bulgaria 2018–2022. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Silvonen Viliina 28.2.2026. Karelian laments and cultural ownership. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Silvonen, Viliina and Emmi Kuittinen. 22.5.2026. Contested Karelian laments in Finland in the 2020s. The Cultural Appropriation in Context: Histories, Encounters and Power symposium, Turku (Finland).
Silvonen, Viliina 15.6.2026. Forrest in Lament / Lament in Forrest. Nordic Ethnology and Folklore Conference, Reykjavik (Iceland).
Mäkelä Heidi Henriikka and Outi Valo. 14.7.2026. Perceptions of Folk Music in Finland: towards ICH and communities in the 2020s. Kaustinen ICH Academy, Kaustinen (Finland).
Presentations (in Finnish)
Valo, Outi (commentator) 22.4.2026. Paneeli: Musiikintutkimus on tärkeää! [Panel discussion: Music research is important!] Participants: Johannes Brusila, Lea Ryynänen-Karjalainen, Sini Mononen; commentators: Meri Kytö (The Finnish Musicological Society), Outi Valo (Finnish Society for Ethnomusicology), chair Riitta Monto.
Heidi Henriikka Mäkelä and Outi Valo. 23.4.2026. Kansanmusiikin käsite 2020-luvun Suomessa: Kulttuuriperintökäsitykset, politiikka ja visiot. The 27th Finnish Music Researchers’ National Symposium, Turku (Finland).
Project name
Controversial folklore: involving communities in future archival research
Time
01/2026-12/2028
Funder
Kone Foundation
Team
P1 Ph.D. Outi Valo, The Finnish Folk Music Institute & Uniarts Helsinki
Vice Director Ph.D., Adjunct professor Heidi Henriikka Mäkelä, Uniarts Helsinki & The Finnish Literature Society’s research unit
Ph.D. Viliina Silvonen, University of Eastern Finland & The Finnish Literature Society’s research unit
MMus Emmi Kuittinen, Uniarts Helsinki
MSc, MMus Emmi Kujanpää, University of Helsinki
MSc Pekko Käppi, University of Eastern Finland
Contact
-
Outi Valo
Part-time teacher, Folk music, Sibelius Academy
Visiting researcher, Sibelius-Akatemian tohtoriohjelma, Sibelius Academyouti.valo@uniarts.fi
Introduction
The research project focuses on analysing issues of sustainability, ownership and participation in archives, as well as contexts in which archival materials are utilised. The project begins with observations made in archival research and in work on archives as social actors, as well as the significance of community-based work. The project aims to renew archival research by interacting with discussions on cultural heritage and memory studies, developing the use of folklore materials, creating new community-based methods and considering the ethical responsibilities of archive-based scientific research and artistic activity.
The project the research will examine the relationship between archives, communities, archive users and the general public within the frameworks of nationalism, regionalism, cross-border ethnic activism and extreme nationalism in Finland and Eastern Europe. Community involvement in archival research is approached using scientific and artistic research methods. The project’s overarching question is the significance of participation, accessibility, and controversial spaces of archival materials for communities that identify with these materials in various ways. This may relate to the perceived rights of ownership or use of archival materials or to future communities for whom the materials are significant.
The project will result in scientific articles, a research-based roadmap for archive users and concerts. These will promote methodological discussion on archives, produce new community-based archival methods, and stimulate social debate on the relationship between archives and communities. The project will diversify discussions on folklore and folk music by examining communities as multifaceted and contradictory actors. The three-year project is being carried out in collaboration between the Sibelius Academy and the Finnish Folk Music Institute.
Publications
Kujanpää, Emmi. 2026. ”From Solidarity Concerts to Artivism: Transnational European Folk Singing and Folk Singers’ Agency in 2022–2024”. Musiikki 56 (1), 67–103. https://doi.org/10.51816/musiikki.181235.
Valo, Outi and Mäkelä, Heidi Henriikka. 2026. ”A Fiddle for Everyone? Municipal Level Decision Making and the UNESCO Process in Kaustinen, Finland.” In The Spillover Effect of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Exploring the Impact of Intangible Cultural Heritage on Conservation Practices, edited by Bart Zwegers and Renée Vulto.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25352-1_2.
Interviews
Harju, Sara. 2026. ”Viisuvoittaja Dara jakaa Bulgariaa, toisten sankari on toisille lähes saatanallinen” [Eurovision winner Dara divides Bulgaria; one person’s hero is almost satanic to another]. Helsingin Sanomat 24.7.2026. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000012104603.html (Interview from Emmi Kujanpää).
Sinisalo, Saga. 2026. ”Koko maailma pauhaa. Kansanmusiikki kiinnostaa Suomessa koko ajan enemmän. Miksi?” [The whole world is buzzing. Interest in folk music is growing all the time in Finland. Why?] Uusi Juttu 24.7.2026. https://www.uusijuttu.fi/juttu/s3KiMjoz-a1mU8XLw-7c80c (Interview from Outi Valo).
Presentations (in English)
Kuittinen, Emmi. 27.2.2026. The artistic practice and ethical issues of a folk singer in the context of folk traditions expressing grief. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Mäkelä Heidi Henriikka and Outi Valo. 28.2.2026. The concept of folk music in Finland in the 2020s: perceptions, politics, and visions. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Kujanpää Emmi 28.2.2026. Applying Intersectional Feminist Pedagogy in a Transnational Folk Singing Collaboration in Finland and Bulgaria 2018–2022. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Silvonen Viliina 28.2.2026. Karelian laments and cultural ownership. 7th Folk Music Researchers’ Symposium, Helsinki (Finland).
Silvonen, Viliina and Emmi Kuittinen. 22.5.2026. Contested Karelian laments in Finland in the 2020s. The Cultural Appropriation in Context: Histories, Encounters and Power symposium, Turku (Finland).
Silvonen, Viliina 15.6.2026. Forrest in Lament / Lament in Forrest. Nordic Ethnology and Folklore Conference, Reykjavik (Iceland).
Mäkelä Heidi Henriikka and Outi Valo. 14.7.2026. Perceptions of Folk Music in Finland: towards ICH and communities in the 2020s. Kaustinen ICH Academy, Kaustinen (Finland).
Presentations (in Finnish)
Valo, Outi (commentator) 22.4.2026. Paneeli: Musiikintutkimus on tärkeää! [Panel discussion: Music research is important!] Participants: Johannes Brusila, Lea Ryynänen-Karjalainen, Sini Mononen; commentators: Meri Kytö (The Finnish Musicological Society), Outi Valo (Finnish Society for Ethnomusicology), chair Riitta Monto.
Heidi Henriikka Mäkelä and Outi Valo. 23.4.2026. Kansanmusiikin käsite 2020-luvun Suomessa: Kulttuuriperintökäsitykset, politiikka ja visiot. The 27th Finnish Music Researchers’ National Symposium, Turku (Finland).