Creating of the exhibitionsOpen-air museum exhibitions in

SlovakiaMuseum of the Slovak Village

Katarína Očková Slovak National Museum in Martin

Museum of the Slovak Village

Museums Meet Museums, Romanian National Network of Museums,

Bucharest September 15th – 16th, 2017

Open-air museums in Slovakia

Creation of the nation-wide Slovak open-air exhibition

1893 – documentation of traditional building culture in activities of the Museum Slovak Corporation (Turčiansky sv. Martin)

1931 – the first proposal of creation of the open-air museum near the Slovak National Museum in Martin (founding fathers: Dušan Jurkovič, Karel Chotek, Jozef Vydra)

1944 – translocation of the very first building (bell tower from Košťany, Martin district) into the botanical garden of the Slovak National Museum in Martin

1965 – creation of an ethnographical conception (researches of the traditional folk building culture in all regions of Slovakia, researchers determined choice of the building collections and exhibits). There were 218 buildings chosen from 140 localities, plan of the exhibition to be consisting of 10 main areas of Slovakia

1967 – beginning of open-air museum creation / building, location: Jahodníky woods (1km far from the town of Martin)

1971 – 1978 – state scientific task of the SNM in Martin – research of the traditional building culture in 430 localities of Slovakia using cartographical methodology Working out of the librettos and scenarios for open-air exhibition, first and second level of technical documentation to the exhibition buildings, purchase of the buildings from owners (purchasing of the buildings´ furnishing)

1972 – 1974 - first opening for the public (Orava region)

1984 – 1986 - second opening for the public (Orava region)

1985 – 1990-ies - actualisation of the ethnographical conception (from 1965) Orientation of created exhibition changed from „collection of the folk

architectural buildings“... (stressing construction, layout and typological building specifics, detailed analysis of urban methods that was understood as architectural creation or activity (Museum of folk architecture)

... to contextual understanding of the whole exhibition (creation of complete historical country structure, historical settlement cultural and natural environment, in-depth historical-ethnographical research of the concrete houses / concrete family stories, so as museum represents an everyday life reality (Museum of the Slovak Village)

1991 – opening the whole exhibition for the public – organization of presentation activities or programmes with enlivening

demonstrations of traditional culture (folk, crafts, traditional agricultural works...)

2003 – Actualisation of the ethnographical conception (PhDr. Jiří Langer, CSc.) – working out of the historical-ethnographical studies of objects / houses and households

Nowadays (unfinished) exhibition

1967 – 1971 creating of the Orava exhibition region 1972 – 1974 creating of the Kysuce – Podjavorníky exhibition region 1974 – 1985 creating of the Liptov exhibition region 1986 – 1991 up to the present time – creating of the Turiec exhibition region (unfinished)

Exhibition of the Museum of the Slovak Village Nowadays area – 15,5 hectares (original conception 64,2 hectares) 150 exhibition buildings (houses or farm / technical / social / religion buildings) 11 500 exhibits of furnishing (furniture, agricultural and cultural historical collections) 25 accessible objects / exhibitions with interior both exterior furnishing 72 localities of the North-West Slovakia Museum of the Roma Culture in Slovakia (from 2009)

Methods and materials Museum of the Slovak Village is ethnographic open-air museum with traditional building culture in wider functional contexts: Settlement creating Historical – settlement environment development Dwelling development Family structure, living-in and life way Occupations Crafts and home manufacturing Traditional technologies, materials, tools These contexts are exactly expressed in: Houses with dwelling and farming functions Technical buildings (oil producing, wool producing, hatter and drapery,

blacksmith’s) Sacral / religional objects (churches, chapels) Social – communication objects (bell-towers, schools, shops, inns and wagon

house) Solitaires and small architecture (hey barns, field seasonal stables, wells, etc.)

Research

Documentation

Journey of the object in to the open-air museum

Collecting of the exhibits

Collections care (conservation, restoration ...)

Preservation and curatorship

Historical-ethnographical studies of the exhibition groups

• (= parts of the exhibition, these are formed on basis of the regions or areas of the characteristic folk architecture and traditional culture)

• They solve the whole content of the exhibition and determine concrete settlement, economical, social and cultural structure, the specifics and changes in time line from the period 18th – first half of the 20th century, all the important issues that represent synthesis of traditional building culture from the typological, development, technological point of view

• They express the most characteristic demonstrations of traditional culture in all functional contexts, time and space relations that correspond to the reconstructed historical settlement countryside.

( KIRIPOLSKÁ, Anna. Historical-ethnographical studies of objects and households. Scientific research task, Archives of the Slovak National Museum in Martin, 2004 )

Historical-ethnographical studies of the objects / buildings and households

• they consist of the genealogy of the builder / owner of the building up to the last owner with the notice of innovations, building modifications, stories of the families who inhabited the houses, documentation of furnishing, exchange of space use

• they consist of documentation of farm and agricultural, social, cultural, religion and other relations

• dating of the object and documentation of all possible time periods of its life is basic important information for time of presented exhibition

• the study is very important as for reconstruction of all components of the historical country in museum exhibition both with small architecture, surrounding agricultural fields and gardens, historic activities in exhibition

( KIRIPOLSKÁ, Anna. Historical-ethnographical studies of objects and households. Scientific research task, Archives of the Slovak National Museum in Martin, 2004 )

Technical scenario

Scenario of the exhibition object, household, group • Is worked out on the basis of the historical-

ethnographical study

• It consists of: » Exhibition intent of the object, household, group ... » Suggestions of changes in construction works in compare

of building project in the museum ... » Solving of the components of the historical settlement

countryside (communications, agro-exhibition, small architecture...)

» Description of the functions and use of individual spaces of the object / household...

» Proposal for the furnishing of the object / household with the list of exhibits and specification of their installation ...

Making up the exhibition household from Východná village No. 414

The newest exhibitions

Household of the Carpathian Germans

Firehouse from Laskár

Technical exhibitions

Short-term exhibitions

Displays

Plans for future

• Exhibition of Oravian home manufacturing and crafts, 2018

(Interregional EU project, 2 partners from Poland and 3 partners from Slovakia)

• Exhibition on traditional building materials and techniques, diagnostics and sanitation of the objects, 2018-2019

(Interregional EU project, partner: Wallachian open-air museum, Czech republic)

• Experience house • School with traditional teaching

How do we create exhibition and express the phenomenon of an „EVERYDAY LIFE“ from far past?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Mgr. Katarína Očková chief curator

Museum of the Slovak Village Slovak National Museum in Martin

katarina.ockova@snm.sk katarina.ockova@gmail.com