traditional crafts organisation in Slovakia

I just found out about this organisation in Slovakia and they have a nice English website which is worth a few minutes browsing.

"Creating utility and decorative items according to old patterns or according to one´s creative ideas is a very attractive form of free time activity. It is the reason why ÚĽUV promotes the crafts courses for adults and young people as a form of lifestyle. Working with crafts, people learn about cultural traditions of their ethic group, gain deeper knowledge of natural materials and manual production technologies and, last but not least, they learn about themselves."

http://www.uluv.sk/en/web/home/

They are funded by the ministry of culture  and support crafts in many ways, running shops to seel work, arranging workshops and apprenticeships, annual exhibitions and a magazine, the current issue seems to feature fan carved birds something which my friends Del Stubbs in the US and Sean Hellman in the UK would be interested in.

I would recommend 6 minutes watching this English language video giving an overview of the work and ethos of the organisation. You need to download it and have something like media player to make it work.


http://www.uluv.sk/en/web/uluv-the-cultural-organization/video-about-uluv/


A link from this site also took me to the European Folk Art and Craft Federation a grouping of national craft organisations which looks very interesting.

http://www.folkartandcraft.net/