Exhibitions in its own galleries and exhibitions intended to be presented abroad have been part of ÚĽUV permanent cultural and promotional activities for six decades now. Several of ÚĽUV’s events are repeated regularly.
For twenty years, we have been organising in Bratislava a festival of traditional crafts and folk production called ÚĽUV Craftsmen Days. Every two years, ÚĽUV hosts competitions for young professional designers and for pupils of primary schools and art schools.
The current exhibition presents a selection of student works from the Design and Woodworking Department of the Josef Vydra School of Applied Arts in Bratislava over the past 25 years.
To date, 454 individuals have been awarded the title of Master of Folk Art Production. This exhibition showcases the works of the most recent 80 masters, symbolically selected to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Centre for Folk Art Production. It presents the work of contemporary artisans, the majority of whom are still active today.
The third exhibition from the successful series “Tradition Untraditionally“, presented in the ÚĽUV Gallery in Bratislava, brings us closer the Non-ageing popularity of field plants – linen and hemp. The unique character of those historical objects and products made from them in the past decades under the ÚĽUV brand, will guide visitors through the fascinating past.
ÚĽUV in 2024 established cooperation with another Art School, the School of Design - Bohumil Bača Private School of Art Industry in Bratislava. Within the framework of this school, students of the Graphic Design Department worked on the theme of the logo for the 80th anniversary of ÚĽUV with application to promotional items in the form of an assignment. The students of the Fashion Design Department created models and accessories inspired by traditional folk textile techniques or elements of clothing.
The 12th edition of the international crafts-oriented design competition is a platform aimed at finding innovations inspired by traditional craft production. Organized by ÚĽUV since 2000, the competition’s mission is to foster dialogue on traditional values, their preservation and innovation in contemporary craft, applied art and design.
This year ÚĽUV is bringing linen, hemp and nettle closer to the public through various events. The stories of these unique natural materials, strongly connected with the history of material culture of mankind, are fascinating.
The third exhibition from the successful series “Tradition Untraditionally“, presented in the ÚĽUV Gallery in Bratislava, brings us closer the Non-ageing popularity of field plants - linen and hemp.
The main characteristic of wooden products from the village of Kyjatice is their unique decoration, consisting of variations of engraved ornamentations. It is mostly strikingly represented today by Kyjatice toys, although at the beginning of the 19th century, the inhabitants of this village were making mainly furniture out of beech wood, and toys were just a side range.
In 2023, ÚĽUV presents natural materials for weaving in traditional and contemporary craft as well as design in its year-round activities. The ambition of the new exhibition at the ÚĽUV Gallery in Bratislava, which continues the thematic cycle Tradition Untraditionally, is to show visitors the diversity and functionality of the works of master craftsmen, designers and students.
The “Design by Nature“ exhibition is another showcase of the current semester works of the students of the Innovation Studio in the premises of the ÚĽUV Regional Crafts Centre in Košice. Studio Innovation was founded in 2005 by Tibor Uhrín and operates within the Department of Design of the Faculty of Arts of the Technical University in Košice (Faculty of Arts TUKE).
The “Rings in Water” competition is organized bi-yearly by ÚĽUV. The goal is to initiate and support the creation of new designer products inspired by traditional craft. It develops a dialogue about traditional values, how they are safeguarded and how they appear in contemporary craft, applied art and design.
The first part of ÚĽUV’s new exhibition cycle - “Tradition – Untraditionally” - presents wood in contexts that have never been seen before. Design from museum collections to contemporary works looking towards the future. The exhibition is open to the public from January 20 th to November 4th 2022 in the ÚĽUV Gallery at Obchodná 64 in Bratislava.
