The mission of the museum is to create, through professional, scientific and documentary activities, subject, textual and pictorial documentation of past and present folk art production. The museum manages three funds – collection, documentation and working funds.
Collection fund
The museum’s collection consists of collections across all material groups and crafts. The largest representation is folk clothing and home textiles. Other collections include ceramics, objects made of wood, metal, leather or natural knitted fabrics, etc. A separate collection is represented by objects awarded in the Circles on Water competition, which has been organised biennially by ÚĽUV since 2000. Unique is the collection of coloured drawings of folk clothing by the artist Viera Škrábalová and samplers from the workshops of blueprint masters Ján Mudrončík from Ružomberok, Stanislav Trnka from Púchov and Milan Lilge from Martin. Most of the collections and documentation come from field research and other professional work of the staff of the Centre of Folk Art Production. The works of producers who have been awarded the title of master of folk art production are also represented.
Documentation fund
The documentation fund consists of a photo archive, a video library, research reports and costume documentation. The photo archive consists of approximately 100 000 negatives, slides, photographs and documentation cards. They contain images from various areas of traditional and contemporary folk art production, documenting the production range of ÚĽUV and various events organised by ÚĽUV. Particularly valuable are the samplers of textile techniques and materials, which are unique evidence of the material and craft diversity of traditional clothing in Slovakia.
Working fund
The working fund is the youngest of the funds and consists of items intended primarily for manipulative and educational activities. Textiles, wood, metal and leather are represented in terms of materials.
The Museum of the Humanities and Crafts allows interested members of the professional and lay public to study its collections and documents on a full-time basis. The subject of study can be information from professional records, digital image records and objects belonging to the collections, if their condition allows it. The museum provides sources for commercial use only after concluding a contract.
If you are interested in studying, please fill out an application and send it to the museum by mail or e-mail to zuzana.zelnikova@uluv.sk.