Elena Zahradníková
Eyes, hands, ears, noses – for almost three years now these have been the tools for students of two secondary art schools when touching the objects displayed in the Slovak National Museum in Martin (SNM).
This year students of the School of Applied Art in Ružomberok and the Secondary Art School in Trenčín met at the SNM in Martin to present their own views on symbol and ornament. They drew inspiration for their work from the collection objects of ethnographical nature and the decoration that adorns them. To limit the space and stop endless overlapping into present day design, they were told to concentrate on solar rosette, pommegranate, heart, tulip and little bird. The students’ task was to bring back the elements of traditional folk culture into the space of today’s people. To prove that it is a suitable inspirational source even for present day people that could be applied on their clothes, objects of everyday use or even elements used in interior design. To what extent they have been able to meet the aims of the project is up to the visitors to judge who can visit the exhibition Touches with Folk Culture: Symbol and Ornament these days.