EUROPEAN TEXTILE NETWORK - ETN Secretariat, P.O. Box 5944, D-30059 Hannover, Germany

Introduction to the Slovakia Route (English only)
FACTS ON SLOVAKIA Country name: Slovak Republic Type: parliamentary democracy Area: 48,845 sqkm Regions: 8 kraje/regions Capital: Bratislava Participation, a.o.: Council of Europe, European Union applicant, OSCE, UN/UNESCO Population: 5,430,033 (2003) Language(s): Slovak (official), Hungarian Ethnic groups (from 1% on): Slovak 85.7%, Hungarian 10.6%, Roma 1.6%, Czech / Moravian / Silesian 1.1%, Ruthenian / Ukrainian / German / Polish / other 1% Religions: Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4% Currency: Slovak koruna(SKK) GDP / capita: US$ 12,200 (2002)		FACTS ON BRATISLAVA Area: 367.5 sqkm Menbership: European Confederation of Towns Partnership/twin cities: Kyiv/Ukraine, Perugia/Italy Population: 599,015 Language(s): Slovak Ethnic groups (minorities): Hungarians, Germans Religion: Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox

Facts and more information on Catalonia (English only)
Introduction to the Slovakia Route Leading project partner: Academy of Art and Design, Bratislava; Ms Cisárová-Mináriková, Head of the Textile Art Studio The knights' journeys during the Middle Ages, in the 14th and 15th centuries, resulted in a flourishing new craft for men - court embroidery. Embroiderers formed guilds in Bratislava, Banká Bystrica und Kosice. They produced decorative embroideries for secular occasions. Ecclesiastical embroideries were made in 14th and 15th century nunneries. Above all, the nuns worked to create the furnishings of the churches located in the rich mining towns of central and eastern Slovakia (Spis region). They made splendid Gothic parements embroidered with scenes of the saints' lives. The backgrounds fabrics they used were precious Venetian damasks, velvets and brocades. Today such works may be admired in the museums of Levoca, Kosice and Bardejov. A special fabric produced in the 14th and 15th centuries was bakachin, a type of linen woven on the loom that was found not only in bourgeois Bardejov households but was also widely used, either to make towels, bedcovers and tablecloths or for various ecclesiastical purposes, in all of what was then Hungary. From the 16th century onwards white lace became popular. Miners' wives produced such lace at home. At the same time farmers made coloured lace for their costumes and home furnishings. The Museum of Ethnography in Martin owns 37,000 folk costumes from all over Slovakia. A collection of liturgical vestments, antependia and ceremonial flags made by Mária Hollósy in the late 19th and early 20th century are now in the municipal collection of the town of Cífer. Located in the castle of Bratislava, the Museum of History (National Museum of Slovakia) preserves bourgeois clothing, interior textiles and tapestries dating from the 17th to 20th centuries. Tapestries and draft designs by L'udovít Fulla, an important renewer of the Slovakian crafts, have been compiled in the L'udovít Fulla Gallery in Ruzomberok. In Slovakia, textile training is offered by the Applied Art Colleges of Ruzomberok and Bratislava as well as the Fashion School of Trencin. At university level, the Academy of Art and Design has three textile departments: the textile design department, fashion department and department of free textile art which includes restoration and the study of textile history. One of the first companies to mark the beginning of a modern textile industry was the "twist" factory, established in Bratislava in 1868. In 1880 a weaving school was built in Kezmarok in order to strengthen that craft, then still in existence. In the late 19th century a school equipped with lace-making workshops was added in the town of Kremnica. An embroidery and drawing school was set up in Cífer in 1892 and went on to become the largest educational institution for domestic embroidery in all of Europe, with 17 branches in Western Slovakia. In 1895 the largest cotton mill in the former Austro-Hungarian empire was built in Ruzomberok; its current name is "Texicom". Later production sites for woollen fabrics were established in the northern Slovakian regions of Orava and Liptov, in the towns of Halic and Zilina. Moreover, in Levice there were the "Slovena" carpet factory and "Levitex" cotton printing mill. After the fall of Communism these factories decayed, and smaller production companies were established in their stead. In 1991 the fashion designer, Danica Vodava set up the "Dana Voda" studio and workshop for woven fashion. Established in Bratislava in 1997, the Association of Textile Artists runs a workshop and studio for needlefelt wall hangings. The studio, called "Arttex", produces hangings from the Association's owns designs.



	Bratislava
	TCP Academy of Fine Art & Design
	Slovak National Museum
	Miniature Textile Gallery X
	ARTTEX Studio & Workshop
	Bratislava Yarn Mill
	Important sites in Slovakia
	Collection Mária Hollósy
	Slovak National Gallery
	Former Hungarian Industry Corporation
	Šariš Museum
NETWORK INFORMATION Calendar of events ETN members

	Textile Contact Point
	Monument
	Textile event
	Site on the route
		Cultural heritage
		Textile production
		Education/research