Tomáš Mikolaj
A legendary shepherd Peter Slosiar and his sheep farm in Liptovská Porúbka played an important role in the life of Milan Kočtúch, a folk art producer; the former witnessing the latter’s attempts at carving when, as a young man, he tried his hand at making special shepherds’ jugs, so-called črpáky. When Milan Kočtúch became an apprentice at the apprentice school belonging to the Tesla factory in Liptovský Hrádok, he too started working in metal. After finishing his training he found employment therein, working as a tool grinder, lucky enough to have skilful colleagues who had great manual dexterity and many of who admired the folk shepherd art. In the first half of the 70s, he began cooperating with ÚĽUV, making buckles of Pohronie and Liptov type. After 1989, he tried his hand at leather, producing his first multi-buckled belts. Last year, Milan Kočtúch was awarded the tile of Master of Folk Art Production.