Editorial board
Wicker has long been used in the folk tradition in Slovakia; it was the most widespread weaving material amongst all other natural types. Mainly green unpeeled wickers were used for folk basket-making production. Growing cultivated basket willow has not developed to such an extent in Slovakia that it is able to satisfy the demand for this material. Slovak basket makers obtain most of their cultivated wicker from Hungary and Moravia because domestic growers are still rare. One of them, Ján Zeman, an employee of the railway company, started to be interested in basket making a decade ago. As a self-learner, he studied basket making procedures and products intensively in literature, museums and with other basket makers. He gradually widened his interest to growing wicker. Currently, he has increased the area where he is already growing four varieties of cultivated willow.