Welcome to NordFo's conference at Konstfack in Stockholm, Sweden 23–25 september 2026.
Logotype created by Jospehine Skapare, 2026
The theme of the conference is Material Intelligence
Lectures, paper presentations, posters and workshops with a focus on socio-material perspectives of sloyd/crafts, drawing inspiration from, for example, embodied learning and posthuman theories.
Material agency, affordance, new materialism, the importance of sloyd/handicraft skills in today's society and creative encounters between material and human beings are concepts and themes that are highlighted during the conference days.
Keynote lectures are in English, paper presentations in language by choice.
Welcome!
Siri Homlong and Annelie Holmberg from the The Department of Visual Arts and Sloyd Education at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design
Any questions are referred to the email address nordfo2026@konstfack.se.
PDF with travel information and tips on accommodation
Wednesday 23 September
Theme: Perspectives on the materials of handicrafts
9-10.30 am: Registration and welcome coffee
10.30: Opening of the conference
- Welcome speech by Konstfack's vice chancellor for education Jenny Althoff
11.00- 11.45 Craftsman Jögge Sundqvist begins with a multi modal lecture on his struggle with and against the material. Using an ax and knife he shapes a wooden sloyd object within "the four walls" he works with an unbending desire to craft with his unique aesthetic expression. About folk-art craft and a constant struggle on the knife's edge.
12-12.30 Associate Professor Simon Ceder, Konstfack, on sociomaterial theory, material agency and assemblage, with examples from current sloyd research.
12.30-13.30 Lunch
13.30-16 Paper session 1: Parallel paper presentations
17.30-20 Evening program with a small meal at Nordiska museets exhibition Nordbor
Thursday 24 September
Theme: The Sloyd and the Brain
9.00-10.00 Paper session 2: Parallel paper- and poster presentations
10.30-12.00 Professor Marte S. Gulliksen, University of South-Eastern Norway, about her work with sculpture when her ability to see 3-dimensionally disappeared, and brain researcher Professor Henrik Jörntell, Lund University, about connections between the brain and the rest of the body in relation to e.g. fine motor skills, health - and the importance of crafts in this context.
12–13 Lunch
13.00 Conversation between Marte S. Gulliksen, Henrik Jörntell and conference participants in Marte's exhibition Purkinje & Astrocyte, with sculpted brain cell shapes. What can sloyd researchers learn from brain researchers and what can brain researchers learn from sloyd researchers?
13.00-16.00 Paper session 3: Parallel paper presentations
16.00-17.00 NordFo meeting. Election of a new presidium and decision on the next conference
18.30 Conference dinner at restaurant Capricci
Friday 25 September
Theme: Material intelligence from tradition to the future
9.00-10.30
- Duodji. About the relationship between man, animal and material in a tribute to the reindeer.
- "Something is broken". Doctoral student at Konstfack, Ernesto Garcia, talks about his research project in which he examines the healing power of repairing something, together and in public environments such as Sergels Torg in Stockholm
- Knowledge of the hand: Material intelligence in textile heritage research.
Professor Maja Gunn presents a major research project at Konstfack, funded by the Swedish Research Council. The aim is to build knowledge about the historical and contemporary role of textiles through studies of museum collections, to make textile experiences visible and to contribute to the exchange of knowledge between different institutions and with the surrounding society.
11.00-12.00 Paper session 4: Parallel paper presentations
12.00-12.30 Closing the conference
12.30 Lunch - Grab & go