FULL- Traditional Crafts- Slovakia
Dates: 1st to 28th August 2010
Number of UK Participants: 6
Duration: 4 weeks
The TICATEC (Training in Contemporary Applications of Traditional European Crafts) placement in Slovakia is hosted by Grampus's long-term partner, the Ipel Union. This NGO was formed in 1992 and has as its primary objective the management of the natural and cultural assets of the Ipel river water catchment. The placement is based in the small south Slovakian village of Ipel'ský Sokolec, near to the Hungarian border.
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Participants will be living in a traditional farmhouse, the style of which is a Pannonian plain longhouse. They will use a food allowance to purchase and prepare their own food. The placement has three main parts:
1. In the village there is a recently established 'eco-centre'. This consists of a traditional clay-built longhouse in three joined section - each section would have housed one generation of a family - grown up children, parents and grandparents. The plan is for the sections to be a small village museum, a bakehouse and kitchen and a training room. The house is being restored using traditional skills like adobe brick and lime rendering. In 2010, we plan to build a straw and clay rendered sauna. There is a chance to learn and apply these skills. For artistic participants, we sometimes organise residencies for artists and there is the possibility to do applied art and sculpture. Some have been interested to work on cataloguing and repairing old tools and artefacts for the small planned museum.
2. In the nearby village of Salka, there is a traditional skills centre established by local villagers. At this centre participants will learn loom weaving, corn dolly making (with some other products from corn husks), rope making, basketry and traditional baking. Participants will be able to keep what they make as examples to show at college and as souvenirs.
3. Locally available, depending on the interests of the group, there
are opportunities to do some green woodworking, including shingle-making,
traditional fencing and ornamental wood carving - including chip carving.
A cultural programme includes the opportunity to go camping further north in Slovakia in the Low or High Tatras. There are also cultural visits to Esztergom in Hungary, which is a historical town dating from Roman times and with an impressive Roman Catholic basilica and Banska Stiavnica, a UNESCO World Heritage town established in the Medieval period by German miners. There are some interesting local hiking opportunities, including the 32 kilometre trail, which is mainly through oak forest, to the medieval ruined Cabrad castle. Typical animals in the forest here include red deer, roe deer, wild boar and beech marten with lynx in the adjacent Ipoly Duna National Park (over the river in Hungary). There is the opportunity to visit this Park and meet the ranger.
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The local people are friendly and welcoming and are chiefly ethnic Hungarians.
Although Slovakian is the official language, Hungarian is more often
spoken on a daily basis in the village. During their stay in the village
participants might also visit various local vegetable gardens and learn
about sustainable food production - and buy produce from villagers.
There is also local honey and wine production.Participants will most
usually fly to Budapest in neighbouring Hungary and be transferred by
taxi into Slovakia. Usually towards the end of the placement, it is
possible to spend a couple of days sightseeing in Budapest.Participants
on this placement will need good outdoor footwear and waterproofs. The
climate has a very hot summer and cold winter with a short autumn and
spring. Insect repellent is required because much of the land is swampy
and low-lying. A phrasebook with Hungarian as well as Slovakian is recommended;
some local people speak German as a second language. English is spoken
by young people but not usually by older people.
The Ipel river is good for swimming (with care- always heed local advice)
and fishing.
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NOTE: Participants on all of our placements will now require a European Health Insurance CARD (EHIC). CLICK HERE to visit the external website and apply for your EHIC online. |