Milena Slováková
The Centre for Folk Art Production in Bratislava organised the third all-Slovak art and crafts competition for children and young people In the Country of Crafts 2001, for the first time in collaboration with the Liptov Culture Centre in the town of Liptovský Mikuláš. The two organisations combined two competitions for children, ÚĽUV – In the country of crafts (two competitions organised in the past) and Liptov Culture Centre – Children and traditional folk production (sixteen competitions organised in the past), into a single one.
The purpose of the joint competition is to promote traditional crafts among children and young people, to stimulate cultural identity and support their creativity and manual skills. 480 works from all over Slovakia were registered for the third year of the competition. Children and young people had six categories to register into and were divided into two age groups: 8 – 11 years and 12 – 15 years. The panel of judges awarded 41 prizes and 23 honorary mentions. They also awarded six mentions to teachers for their work with children. All works registered for this year´s competition were part of an exhibition, which was new aspect of the event.