Research Lab CRAFT!, 60 credits, 2025

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! 2025

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.

Course director
Maja Gunn

Course Syllabus
KHV500_Research Lab CRAFT! _ 60,0 hp

Language of instruction
All teaching, tutoring, and examinations are conducted in English.

Credits and form of study
60 credits (1 year), full-time, daytime, distance and on-campus.

The course is taught over a 40-week period, and there will be seminars, group discussions and individual tutoring. 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.

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

Entry Requirements
Bachelor's degree of 180 credits in craft or equivalent and 60 credits at advanced level in craft or equivalent. In addition, proficiency in English equivalent to Swedish upper secondary school course English 6/English B. Read more about the language requirements here.

Selection and assessment of applicant assignments
The selection is made on artistic grounds and is based on assessment of the applicant’s submitted files.

How to apply to Research Lab CRAFT!

1. When applying to Konstfack you submit an online application to the Swedish central application website www.universityadmissions.se and send qualifications to support the entry requirements to universityadmissions.se

2. You will also need to upload files electronically via Konstfack's website. These files will be used in the selection between eligible applicants.

Files to submit to Konstfack.se
Three (3) PDF-files.

File number 1. Portfolio of former works and/or projects, one (1) PDF file, max 10 pages.
File number 2. CV, one (1) PDF file.
File number 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.

Name your file using this format: lastname_firstname_filenumber

Important information about your applicant assignment/portfolio.

Technical specifications
To be able to assess your portfolio correctly, it is important that you comply with these technical specifications.

The PDF files must not be password-protected or set to force the presentation into full screen.