Research Lab CRAFT! explores, both through thinking and studio work, the role of craft today, what research in craft can be, and what it can do to, and tell us about, ourselves and society. It is a focused, one year course aimed at craft professionals.
Taught in English, the core modules take place over two to three consecutive days each month to allow students to take part in the course without having to be based in Stockholm full time.
How to apply
1. Apply at universityadmissions.se (for Swedish speaking applicants: antagning.se)
2. Upload files to konstfack.se
Important dates
1 December 2023: Online application (universityadmissions.se) opens.
1 December 2023: Portal to upload applicant assignment (konstfack.se) opens.
15 January 2024: Application deadline (universityadmissions.se / antagning.se).
1 February 2024: Qualifications to certify the entry requirements, and payment of application fee or certification of fee exempt status must have reached University Admissions.
Deadline to upload portfolio/files for selection to konstfack.se.
February - April 2024: Assessment of applications.
11 April 2024: Notification of selection results is published (universityadmissions.se / antagning.se)
2 September 2024: Course start.
Book cover of the publication "in the making : the crack that lets the light shine in" by
Research Lab CRAFT! students 2023/2024.
Research Lab CRAFT! 2024
In the course Research Lab CRAFT!, we explore how contemporary craft practitioners can engage with artistic research, contributing to and with their own craft practices as method. Through seminars/conversations, readings, exercises, group discussions and individual tutorials, Research Lab CRAFT! encourages reflection on the relation between making, writing, speaking contemporary craft practice, research and language.
Students work with their own projects, applying questions such as:
What is artistic research? How can craft practice guide research? In what ways can we define craft? How do we do, voice and read craft practices? How can we work to question normative methods and give space for new pedagogy and scholarship? What kind of research are we already doing, and how does making function in our research process?
Students are encouraged to develop definitions of the word "craft" and other key terms within their practice, and to position themselves within a research environment by going through this set of questions, individually and collectively.
The project studentship is a post-graduate course. The course accounts for 60 credit points and is taught over a 40-week period.
Critical and generative thinking and making are central for the field of Crafts at Konstfack, challenging established craft and societal norms and expectations. To develop their research skills, students will work with their own projects choose their own area of enquiry drawing on a wide variety of theoretical and practical sources, and use these to inform their own practical work and thinking, in order to pursue and even challenge what research in the field may be.
We want Research Lab CRAFT! to explore, both through thinking and studio work, the role of craft today and what it can tell us about ourselves and society. Furthermore, we welcome projects that practically examine craft history from a norm-critical perspective.
The course is open to applicants who have a Master's in Craft or another significant qualification. Applicants must have a good ability to independently plan their work, push it forward, sharing their research collaboratively and publicly. Those who are accepted onto the course will design an individual study plan in consultation with a supervisor. Students are expected to take a lot of responsibility for their project development during the course, and have an interest and ability to examine the forms through which dissemination of knowledge about craft can take.
The course is taught entirely in English and would suit those wishing to return to study, people wishing to develop proposals for PhD study, and makers who would like an opportunity to explore a specific subject in depth through thinking and making.
Entry requirements
A minimum of 60 credits on advanced level in the field of Craft or equivalent. And proficiency in English equivalent to Swedish upper secondary school course English 6/English B. Read more about the language requirements here.
Course period
The course is taught over a 40-week period, and there will be seminars, group discussions and individual tutoring.
Start: 2 September, 2024
End: 8 June, 2025
Course syllabus: KHV500_Research Lab CRAFT! _ 60,0 hp
Selection
Artistic assessment/portfolio
Examination
Examiners are the professors within the craft subjects at Konstfack.
The examination consists of
- A report/documentation of the research project
- Written conclusion of the research project
- Verbal and physical presentation of the project in form of public exhibition/seminar/lecture
Language: The course is taught is English
How to apply to Research Lab CRAFT!
The online application is open from 1 December 2023 to 15 January 2024.
When applying to Konstfack you submit an online application to the Swedish central application website www.universityadmissions.se (antagning.se for Swedish speaking applicants), and send qualifications to support the entry requirements to universityadmissions.se (antagning.se for Swedish speaking applicants).
You will also need to upload files electronically via Konstfack's website. (Portal opens 15 December) These files will be used in the selection between eligible applicants. Since the course is taught in English, applications should also be made in English.
Files to submit to Konstfack's website:
1. Portfolio of former works and/or projects, one (1) PDF file, max 10 pages.
2. CV, one (1) PDF file.
3. Project description, one (1) PDF file
The project description should consist of 1000 - 1600 words and it shall explain the research subject as well as suggest research methods and it shall propose the relevance of the research for the field of craft.