In September 2026, the Danish Cultural Institute, together with the Center for Grundtvig Studies and the Grundtvig Forum, co-hosted the seminar The Power of Song at Vartov as part of the Himmelblå Festival.
The day offered a wide range of perspectives on the significance of song, both historically and in relation to the world we face today.
Among the speakers were Katrine Laigaard Baunvig, Director of the Center for Grundtvig Studies, and Rūta Muktupāvela, Rector of the Latvian Academy of Culture, who highlighted the importance of communal singing in times of crisis. Drawing on new findings from the CRIES research project, they explored the role of communal singing in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries from the nineteenth century to the present day.
Latvian composer and ethnomusicologist Valdis Muktupāvels examined the common features of Nordic and Baltic singing traditions, while our Regional Director for the Baltic States and the Baltic Sea Region, Anna Enemark, spoke about “Cultural Prepping” and the role of culture in times of crisis.