Bearers of the tradition of folks crafts 2007

Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2006 Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2005 Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2004 Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2003 Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2002 Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2001

  

Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2007

Within Government Decree No. 5/2003 Coll., on Ministry of Culture awards, implemented by Order of the Minister No. 13/2003, Minister of Culture Vaclav Jehlicka has bestowed the 2006 "Bearer of the Tradition of Folk Crafts" titles on the following folk artists:

Rozálie Blažková (*1941) was born in the Slovak village of Nesvady, where weaving from maize husks had an old tradition reaching back to the mid-19th century. She learned the technique from her sister, who worked on contracts for the Centre for Folk Art Manufacture (ÚLUV) in Bratislava. When she married and moved to Osvětimany near Uherské Hradiště, she started her own production, using the forms and patterns from her home. This resumed the manufacture in the Moravian area known as Slovácko, where this craft had been documented in earlier times, but without the names of people who were involved.
Weaving from maize husks is not difficult technically, but requires a considerable amount of experience and skill. Work begins with the collection of prophylls - husks and their drying to prevent mould growth and stains. The weaving proper is done on a frame which gives the future product its form – flat, angular, oval or elliptic. Nails are hammered into the frame edge and the warp and weft string is stretched between them. This is the most difficult part of the work because the string has to be made by hand as the work progresses. The production of the string is one of the reasons why this technology cannot be used for machine manufacture and why manufacturers show little interest. Ms Blažková uses this weaving technique to make various types of mats, cases and boxes, as well as bags with patterns on the sides.
Although she does not have a direct follower, several people have been trained in this craft with the assistance of the Slovácko Museum in Uherské Hradiště and this unique tradition has thus been saved.

Hana Buchtelová (*1961) was born in the village of Malá Vrbka, in the Horňácko ethnographic area. Linen weaving had a very old tradition at Malá Vrbka and other villages in the area and was an important source of livelihood for poor families. The family tradition reaches back to the early 20th century, when weaving production was started by Tomáš Okénka and later followed by his son Jan Okénka, ÚLUV Master of Folk Art Manufacture. Thanks to him, Hana Buchtelová learned the traditional handmaking technique and its patterns, above all the multi-colour patterns of Horňácko fabrics (“činovatě“).
Buchtelová’s craftsmanship is based on the local tradition that she intentionally continues in her work. All her products are made on an almost 200- years-old hand operated loom that she works alone. She only buys the flax and cotton yarn and stretches it on the loom. She uses various techniques, from plain and twill weave to more complex ones, with an additional plate. The latter is used for the manufacture of fabrics with the different local patterns in red, black and blue. Besides preserving the knowledge of the traditional manufacturing technology, another of her achievements is the adaptation of her products to the needs of the contemporary housing culture and clothing. Her fabrics are thus used to make not only tablecloths and mats, but also ties, bags, gifts, bookmarks and other decorative items.
Weaving is a family affair at the Buchtels, with all its members participating in one way or another. Mr Buchtel does the technical preparation, children can already weave. They can be seen at many museum events presenting traditional crafts, where otherwise unused hand operated looms come to life again thanks to them.

Iveta Dandová (*1963) from Mnichovo Hradiště was born in a region where the processing of reed mace was common and has a very old tradition. Thanks to patronage of the Centre for Folk Art Manufacture (ÚLUV) this production survived nationalisation and former private manufacturers could operate under a local organisation at Bakov nad Jizerou. They included Iveta’s father Ilja Karmazín, who taught her the fundamentals of the craft. After completing her training she was employed at the Bakov operation and later in a family firm. After ÚLUV disintegrated and supplies of material stopped as a result, production came almost to a halt and Iveta Dandová remains one of the few manufacturers who are carrying on the craft.
Reed mace weaving is an old weaving technique that in the past used a well-accessible material growing in the ponds of the area. Every manufacturer, including Iveta Dandová, thus had to know how to supply themselves with the necessary materials, which means harvesting and processing the stems, up to cleaning and sorting, to final treatment before use. The weaving is done on forms of various shapes - flat, angular, oval and elliptic, which give the product its basic form. The final range of goods includes traditional items, such as bread baskets, bags and slippers, but also modern pieces - bowls, lidded boxes, handbags, hats and small figures. Some products are made by the technique of reed mace plaits sewn together. Ms Dandová’s work is characterised by excellent technical processing of material and at the same time a high use and aesthetic value, a heritage of ÚLUV artists and innovation efforts of the manufacturer owing to which her products are well received by customers.
Ms Dandová learned the craft from her father and, in family tradition, is handing down her skill to her daughters. In addition, she runs various courses of handicraft training, including therapy for handicapped young people. Her products can be found not only in the shops of Manufaktura s.r.o., in the depositories of a number of museums for which she has made replicas of traditional products, but also abroad where she is often sent for presentations of the Czech Republic and the Liberec Region.

Blanka Mikolajková (*1960) from Rožnov pod Radhoštěm is a member of the large group of manufacturers who acquired their knowledge and skills under the guidance and professional supervision provided by the Valašsko Open Air Museum. Thanks to this symbiosis they had the opportunity to use the sources of archive materials and records, in this case the documentation of Františka Šimková (*1893), an ÚLUV Master of Folk Art Manufacture from Zlechov, who was the last living person familiar with the technology of framework knitting.
The study of sources and specialised literature provided the necessary groundwork for starting her own experiments into the use of the equipment. The work is done on a high standing frame with a stretched warp of cotton threads that are being interlaced unevenly from the top, and the pattern originates not only in the upper part but is also mirrored in the lower part of the warp. The method is used mainly to make caps for women’s folk costumes that apply several basic patterns. The craftswoman has gradually improved her knowledge of the technology so much that she can not only copy old patterns but also create new ones. She limits their use to the manufacture of trims for pillows, decorative fabrics, etc. She extended the opportunities offered by the framework technology to the almost forgotten circular knitting which is used to make ladies‘ stockings and fingerless gloves. Her works are not mere copies of old technology but she develops it and adds new patterns and procedures which is a good prerequisite for its further existence.
Blanka Mikolajková does not keep her craftsmanship under the lid, but systematically passes it on to the youngest generation in handicraft training sessions that she has led. At present it is mainly through her work at the Iskérka Daily Activities Social Centre in Rožnov. Under the patronage of the Valašsko Open Air Museum she participates in programmes of handicraft shows, both at home and abroad, where she presents the handicraft manufacture of the Czech Republic.

František Tureček (*1928) is a native of the village of Tvrdonice in the Podluží ethnographic area. The shoemaking trade is a family tradition followed already by his grandfather and father. He was trained in their workshop and from early childhood acquired the necessary experience in the manufacture, quality of material, form and design, and all the technological subtleties of shoemaking by hand. After completing military service he took a job at the Snaha company in Břeclav, where he had worked throughout his employment. After his grandfather František Blažej died, Mr Tureček took over his workshop and besides this work made shoes and boots worn with folk costumes for the Centre of Folk Art Manufacture. The quality of his work won him the title of Master of Folk Art Manufacture. He remained faithful to his work even after he retired and is still continuing it.
Shoemaker’s work in an ethnographic area such as Podluží requires the knowledge of a number of types of footwear as well as of various technologies. The common denominator is mainly a large proportion of handwork, preservation of the construction of the upper and sole, use of pegs and decoration of the upper with embroidery, trimmings and metal tacks. Their range of products includes footwear from various ethnographic areas of Slovácko (Moravian Slovakia) but also other regions. Whether they are shoes or boots, smooth or puckered, the product is always an original characterised by high quality workmanship and full function.
The shoemaker’s craft is not one of those that anyone can learn at once. Specific equipment and long-term training are required. This is also the reason why experience and production technologies are mostly handed down only within families or workshops. For this reason it is very valuable that this manufacture is carried on by two grandsons trained by Mr Tureček himself.

The titles will be awarded in a ceremony on the occasion of the National Opening of European Heritage Days in Uherske Hradiste on 8 September 2007.

  

Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2006

 

• Josef Hruška ( *1941), Valašské Meziříčí - blacksmith technologies
• Jaroslav Sucháček st. (*1936), Lhota u Vsetína, manufacture of sharpening stones
• Ludmila Kočišová (*1931), Vnorovy - processing of maize husks
• Dana Ptáčková (*1950), Morkovice - basket makers
• Miloslava Zatloukalová (*1959), Brodek u Konice - straw plaiting
  

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Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2005

• Josef Janulík, Josefov, for the manufacture of folk footwear
• Drahomír Smejkal, Jihlava, for manual manufacture of files and rasps
• Jiří Ondřej, Zubří, for the manufacture of birch brooms.

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Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2004

• František Joch from Strážnice - blue print on fabrics
• Štefan Kanaloš from Ostrava – wood chiselling
• Jiří Myška from Hlinsko – hatchet work
• Jarmila Oharková from Tišnov – hand weaving

  

Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2003

• Josef Kopčan from Valašská Bystřice - woodworkin by adze and axe
• Zdeněk Kubák - traditional weaving of fabrics
• Oldřich Kvapil from Hořice - carver of gingerbread cutters
• Milan Macho from Suchdol nad Lužnicí - basket-splint weaving
• Petr Stoklasa from Velké Karlovice - wooden doves manufacture

  

Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2002

• Zdeněk Bukáček, Krouna - wood-turned toys
• Jiří Danzinger, Olešnice na Moravě - traditional blue and white printing
• Jana Juřicová, Vigantice - white embroidery
• Ivo Nimrichter, Kyjov - black pottery
• Miloslav Trefanec, Klatovy - Čínov - traditional blacksmith´s craft

  

Bearers of the Tradition of Folk Crafts in 2001

• Antonín Moštěk, Vlčnov - the ceramic workshop, the historical Faience
• Stanislav Štěpánek, Morkovice - basket making
• Ladislav Rejent, Proseč u Skutče - wood carving and turning
• Rudolf Volf, Koloveč - the pottery manufacture
• Jiří Drhovský, Zvěřkovice - wood-carved toys