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A dark illustrated festival scene with fairy lights hanging through trees and people celebrating in groups. A dark blue sky with text on a banner reading 'Shared Airs, Our Thriving Folk Musics'

Explore folk music at the Royal College of Music Museum

Wednesday 6 May 2026

The Royal College of Music Museum’s upcoming special exhibition explores the world of contemporary folk traditions, celebrating how and why folk musics continue to evolve, live and thrive.

Opening on Tuesday 19 May, Shared Airs: Our Thriving Folk Musics explores the co-creation of musical culture within rich folk music traditions. Vibrant and inviting, it interweaves the stories of people and instruments, delving into the diversity of contemporary folk music and dance across these isles. It asks the question, why and how does folk music foster the preservation of culture while continuing to evolve, thrive and resonate today?

Shared Airs explores the spaces that these musics inhabit today and considers how they’re informed by both tradition and current contexts. The exhibition highlights how folk preserves unique national and regional practices whilst also intersecting with and contributing to thriving music scenes in different settings; from sessions and ceilidhs, pubs and performances, to festivals and firesides.

Historical and new instruments provide insights into how preservation and practice interweave. Instruments such as the hardingfele and hurdy-gurdy demonstrate the adoption of historical instruments into flourishing dance practices such as Balfolk. The Northumbrian small-pipes reflect the reinvigoration of music and language, while harps from various regions, including a Welsh small harp, explore folk music and representation. Songbooks and collections from the English Folk Dance and Song Society at Cecil Sharp House demonstrate how musicians use archival material to honour traditions while fostering preservation, reinvigoration and revitalisation.

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Co-curated with folk musicians and researchers, this special exhibition demonstrates the importance of folk music, dance and song traditions in connecting communities, both in the physical and digital spheres. It encourages visitors to reflect on and share their own experiences and perspectives, contributing their ideas to develop a visitor co-curated understanding of what folk music is today.

Jennifer Brian, Deputy Curator of the Royal College of Music Museum, said: ‘I hope that visitors to this exhibition enjoy discovering the richness and diversity of folk music and dance today. We invite visitors to share what folk music means to them and help shape a collective understanding of what folk is for all of us.’

Shared Airs: Our Thriving Folk Musics is free and opens at the Royal College of Music Museum on 19 May 2026. The RCM Museum is open Tuesday–Friday, 10.15am-5.45pm and Saturday–Sunday, 11am-6pm.

With thanks to Daniel Woodfield, Co-curator, partners the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, and the many community consultants who contributed to this exhibition.

Main image by Ellen Seidell