Martin Mešša
On the last three days of April, a symposium of smiths took place in the Court of Crafts at ÚĽUV. The event started with a conference by specialists working in the areas of ethnography, history, techniques and design. The topic of the conference was the folk smith craft and its artistic values. The practical part of symposium offered visitors live demonstrations of smith techniques. Igor Radič demonstrated how to make horseshoes, hinges for doors as well as figural works. Jozef Tomčala showed how to make copper trays, bowls and pots. Štefan Smržík – tinker and smith – demonstrated a combination of these two crafts. Ľubomír Karenovič showed how to make small, sturdy candle holders from a piece of iron. Roman Hanúsek with his assistant Ľuboš Kružica was well received when making a motif of a bird like the one appearing in ÚĽUV’s logo. Smith days planned to bring this craft closer to visitors to the Court of Crafts, present the demands of smith work, the craft skills of the smiths, provide both old and new knowledge for ethnographers, historians and smith technique and product experts available, and therefore contribute to better knowledge of this ancient craft.