Research Catalogue

Jenny Sunesson (b. 1973) is a Swedish artist predominantly working with sound. Her practice ranges from field recording and live collages to conceptual sound art and video. Sunesson uses her own life as a stage for her dark, tragic and sometimes comical re-contextualised work where real and invented characters and derogated stereotypes, collaborate in the alternate story of hierarchies and normative power structures in society.

Abstract The incentive for this research was to explore ways of integrating the physicality of singing into vocal education by means of the Musicality of Movement (MoM) approach. Musicality of Movement is a physical performance training program designed for musicians. Traditionally the importance of the physicality of singing is recognized, yet it remains underexposed in vocal training, which eventually can lead to inhibited vocal freedom and wooden or awkward performances. The Musicality of Movement approach (MoM) opens ways to freer, more imaginative stage presence, better physical awareness and more expressive singing. The working hypothesis was: Integrating the Musicality of Movement approach into classical voice education will offer singers tools to enhance stage presence, imaginative expression, clarity of performative skills and can create ways to find physical and mental wellbeing on stage. The hypothesis was confirmed by the results of the three interventions—consisting of MoM lessons and workshops—that were executed during the academic year 2023-2024, with three groups of voice students, in three different settings. Interviews and questionnaires were analysed to give an impression of how working with the MoM approach supported performative skills and stage presence. Positive results were obtained from relatively small groups of students which shows a need for future research over a longer period and with a larger research population. Most mentioned keywords to indicate what the MoM-lessons brought the students were body awareness, better breathing, performance skills and playfulness. The practicality of the approach was shown by the fact that participants mentioned to use the exercises in their individual vocal practice.

A cross disciplinary artistic research project that departs from, and investigates several encounters and alignments between Contemporary Art and Archaeology. Its primary goal is to create a broad selection of autonomous and collaborative artistic, poetic and scientific expressions and responses to Prehistoric Art and its contemporary images. It will seek to stimulate a deeper understanding of contemporary and prehistoric artistic expression and the contemporary and prehistoric human condition. The participating artists and archaeologists will create autonomous projects, but also interact with each other in workshops, seminars and collaborative artistic projects. The secondary goal of Matter, Gesture and Soul is to establish an international cross disciplinary research network at the University of Bergen and strengthen the expertise in cross disciplinary artistic and scientific work with artistic research as the driving force. The project is financed by DIKU and UiB and supported by Global Challenges (UiB)

Taking as a departure point my experience working with war survivors in Peru, this project investigates how art can enable the collectivization of mourning. I connected my interest in the act of mourning human losses with my experiences living in Athens, Greece, where I encountered depression as a common diagnosis on both the individual and collective levels. If being depressed relates to unresolved mourning processes, what are the objects of loss caused by economic crisis and political disillusion? How can art help us to mourn an abstract loss, such as a political project, a certain sense of dignity, a particular relation with time and nature, or a fixed role in the familial structure? How could mourning be shared to allow communities to reframe and re-signify those objects of loss, towards transforming our relation to the economic and political? Lost and Shared creates dialogue between theory and affective labour, through collective experiences that connect emotions, critical thinking, body and space. The intuitions and questions brought by conversations with Greek activists and artists are the core of the project. Later on, facing the impossibility of working as planned due to the pandemic, Lost and Shared was adapted to the new socializing conditions and to acknowledge how crisis and mourning had become a global concern. Thus, the project ends up proposing the idea of “fertilizing mourning” as a concept in the making - an open invitation to collectively create practices that help us reconsidering the entanglements between life, death, and regeneration. Urgent practices we need today in order to contest the increasing, global processes of loss caused by capitalism.

Warm-up routines are essential for preventing injuries and enhancing performance, not only for athletes but also for musicians. While technical exercises like scales are common, physical and mental preparation is often overlooked. Research shows that musicians experience a high incidence of injuries, yet many neglect a comprehensive warm-up that includes both physical and mental aspects. This study explores the importance of incorporating a warm-up routine that goes beyond the instrument itself. It introduces a "warm-up menu" that allows musicians to select exercises based on available time, integrating disciplines and techniques such as Yoga, Body Mapping, Flow, and Imagery, while also highlighting the significance of Core engagement for musicians. These practices enhance body awareness, reduce tension, and promote overall well-being, ultimately helping to prevent injuries. The research combines a literature review, expert interviews, and a case study in which three musicians experimented with different warm-up routines over a week, reflecting on their experiences and the impact on their performance and physical condition. Findings suggest that incorporating non-instrumental warm-ups, especially those influenced by Yoga, can reduce tension, improve posture, and enhance performance while lowering injury risks. Experts, including musicians, psychologists, and physiotherapists, confirmed these benefits but emphasized that warm-ups should be part of a broader injury prevention approach. This study provides initial insights into the benefits of holistic warm-ups and encourages further research. By understanding and implementing better warm-up strategies, musicians can cultivate a more sustainable and healthy career.

This study seeks to illuminate a body of forgotten repertoire, documented in the Dutch Republic's courts, theatres, military, amateur circles, and churches. Comprising of a dissertation and two appendices, this study explores how double-reed instruments were used in the Dutch Republic in the years 1677–1725, focusing on seven types and sizes of instruments made by Richard Haka (<1646–1705). This critical period in double-reed history marks Europe's transition from the direct descendants of Renaissance-type instruments to the French-style instruments of the high Baroque period. The Dutch Republic, being the origin of one quarter of all pre-Classical oboes and the earliest-surviving datable bassoon, was one of the first places to adopt these French instruments outside of France — though the older forms of double-reed instruments continued to be used throughout the period of study. One could question the need for having so many of these instruments in a region which is largely unexplored in terms of historical performance practice and repertoire. Double-reed players of the Republic served in a variety of capacities and could be found playing several genres of music, but due to the historically-inconsistent use of terminology, determining the exact introduction and extinction of these instruments is nearly impossible; however, by contextualising an array of seemingly-unconnected primary sources and analysing details in the iconography of the period, a more-informed perspective on the matter can be gained.