The Folk Union is a personal project set up to help facilitate discussion about the folk scene today.
The Folk Union grew out of several years of working within what I saw as a new folk revival movement. This revival takes many forms. It includes musicians returning to traditional songs, artists and designers drawing on folk imagery, community groups reviving customs, and, increasingly, commercial brands adopting folk symbols as part of their visual language.
This resurgence is not, in itself, a problem. In fact, it’s amazing and I am very lucky to be a part of it. Folk culture has always shifted and reappeared in new forms. But it does raise questions about how folk is used, who benefits from its visibility, and what happens to the communities and traditions that come under sustained attention.
The Folk Union is a personal project which aims to facilitate discussion about the movement that’s taking place now. Rather than just looking ever more closely at folk culture itself, it tries to look at the movement we are part of and the responsibilities that come with it.
The Union is not a membership organisation, it doesn’t require meetings or dues or formal structures. It hosts events, Folkmoots, to facilitate discussion about folk culture today.
As a folk-related project ourself, The Folk Union has laid out a set of values which we try to stick to. Projects that agree with these can sign the Charter and carry the Folk Union mark. The mark is a simple signal of shared values, and a way for like-minded projects to recognise one another and feel connected as part of a wider cultural movement.
About Me
The Folk Union is a personal project run by Mike Hankin.
I’m an artist, curator, and lecturer, and I also run the OffBeat Folk Film Club & Festival. Through that work, and through being involved in the wider folk scene, I became interested in how folk culture is being talked about, presented, and organised now.
The Folk Union grew out of that. It isn’t an organisation, a campaign, or a representative body. It’s simply a place to host conversations, mainly through online Folkmoots, where people who care about folk culture can meet, talk things through, and compare experiences.
There isn’t a fixed end goal. I’m not trying to define folk culture or steer it in a particular direction. The aim is pretty modest - to make space for discussion, reflection and to see what emerges from that over time.
Alongside the moots, I’ve published a short Charter. This sets out a handful of values that guide how I think about working with folk culture.
It’s there for context rather than instruction, and anyone who finds it useful is free to engage with it in their own way.
Everything here is small-scale, independent, and intentionally informal.
If you have questions, you’re welcome to get in touch, or just come along to a moot and listen in.
Contact
All illustrations are by Mike Hankin.
The best way to contact me is via Instagram direct messages.
Otherwise, please email here.
Read our Moderation Guidelines
The Folk Union does not set positions, make decisions, or speak on behalf of the people who take part. It doesn’t define folk culture or attempt to shape it.