Juraj Zajonc
The Centre for Folk Art Production, i.e. ÚĽUV, is most often associated with the sale of products and items which bear the clear and unique stamp of Slovakness. They are seen as expressions of Slovak folk art; for people today they are linked with the country’s traditions and often also with an idea of its past when people wore traditional clothing and were able to obtain and make almost everything they needed with their own hands. Regular, as well as occasional, visitors to ÚĽUV’s Bratislava centre or its branches in Banská Bystrica and Košice and its shops and galleries in Tatranská Lomnica are, however, looking not only for an interesting accessory for their home, or an original gift for a visitor from abroad. They also come to ÚĽUV to look for experiences, knowledge or to fulfil a personal ambition to create with their own hands a simple object out of wood, clay or a hand-woven mobile phone case. They want to learn something new, which not everyone can do any more today.