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Exhibit- How Did We Live?

Posted by Margarete on May 28

There is a very interesting exhibit on display at the Slovak National Gallery called “How Did We Live?”. The exhibit has a collection of photographs from Slovakia in the 20th century and addresses the question of how Slovaks lived in the past 100 years. In addition to photographs and postcards there are more than 2000 items exhibited to help the visitor feel the “soul of the times”. The goal of the presentation is to take the visitor through a fascinating historical journey through Slovakia in the 20th century.

"Muoj Bože" - Song from the Film "Bathory"

Posted by Margarete on May 03

These last few years there’s been a lot of chatter about the film Bathory, the story of Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1641), “the Blood Countess”, infamous for torturing and killing hundreds of girls. She lived most of her life and died in her dungeon at Čachtice Castle, in present-day Slovakia

Information about the release of the film is still confusing. At one point it was to be released in 2007 but that didn’t happen. In the film database website IMDB it states that the film will be debuted in Czechia and Slovakia in June and July of 2008. Over the last several months I’ve read some different interesting facts about Bathory including that the film will be in English, it’s written and directed by a Slovak, it’s apparently the most expensive Czech and Slovak film ever made, and among its many sources of funding includes the Slovak Ministry of Culture.

The Animated Series "Pat & Mat"

Posted by Margarete on Apr 14

Sometimes you have to be a kid to find cartoons and animation amusing. And sometimes, creators have the ability to make something that entertains both children and adults. To me this is a rare talent.

I haven’t seen too many Slovak and Czech cartoons but I have seen some animated shorts from a popular series made for children called “Pat & Mat”, originally called ”...A je to!” meaning ”...And that’s it!” Pat and Mat are two neighbors who are short on wits but long on determination to fix their self-made home-improvement problems. These guys try to solve problems created in their clumsiness while trying to get the job done. What’s amusing is how they do this, of course.

Kraslice - Painted Easter Eggs

Posted by Margarete on Mar 20

I’ve always loved decorated Easter eggs. Usually at home in California my mom would buy one of those egg coloring kits where you dropped tablets into a glass of vinegar, or something like that, and once we colored the eggs a solid color, we’d put stickers on them or draw a design with crayons. That’s great fun for kids. But later on I learned that painting and decorating eggs could be an art form.

When I was in high school, my best friend at the time, who was of Ukrainian descent, brought traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs to school one day for something like a show and tell. Ukrainian style pysanky – decorated eggs, are absolutely gorgeous.

Oscar - Best Foreign Film 1965

Posted by Margarete on Feb 22

Since this weekend is the Academy Awards in the US, I thought I’d make mention of the Slovak film that won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1965 – Obchod na korze – The Shop on Main Street.

Though I say it is a “Slovak” film, I mean that the film was produced by a Czechoslovak film studio, but the film takes place in Slovakia, the movie is in Slovak, and stars Jozef Króner, one of Slovakia’s most famous and important actors.

Nový Most: Masterpiece or Monsterpiece?

Posted by Margarete on Feb 08

As an English teacher in Slovakia at the university level, I sometimes had the opportunity to work with students on their thesis work or projects. By chance I worked in the Department of Architecture at the Technical University in Bratislava. Though usually my input to students never went beyond the assistance of academic writing, I appreciated that I was none the less exposed to a range of works regarding architecture.

Architecture interests me. And undoubtedly, living in a new environment makes a person more aware of their surroundings. Over the years of living in Bratislava, there was only one architectural structure that created in me such a varying range of conflicting and strong emotions: Nový Most – New Bridge.

Czechoslovak Films over the Holidays

Posted by Margarete on Dec 30

Over the Christmas holiday there are always a slew of classic films to watch on TV. These movies are shown year after year, and it’s really just a matter of having a TV schedule on hand to make sure you catch the ones you want to see.

When I first moved to Slovakia, students would tell me what I shouldn’t miss. Over the years of spending Christmas holidays in Slovakia, the list has grown. Here’s a basic run down of the most popular film classics that are shown on Slovak TV through the Christmas season (fairytales are marked with a *):

Review "Images Gone with Time"

Posted by Margarete on Nov 04

Images Gone with Time
Photographic Reflections of Slovak Folk Life: 1950-1965
by photographer Igor Grossmann

There’s something about photographs that transport you to a time and place, far away from where you are at present. In my imagination, I sometimes think about what village life would have been like, years ago in Europe. I’d think about the idea that if I lived in village of long ago, I’d probably know a great deal about farming and animal husbandry, I’d know things such as how to make cloth, sew, and embroider clothes, and I would enjoy being part of a tight-knit community where we celebrated religion and cultural traditions together.

Peter Cmorik - Changing the Music Scene in Slovakia

Posted by Margarete on Oct 09

One of the coolest things about living in another country and being totally immersed in their culture is becoming familiar with numerous specific parts of culture such as cuisine, art, or music.

While in Slovakia, I listened to Slovak radio and naturally, I got familiar with and enjoyed popular Slovak musicians and groups. I heard mainstream favorites like Jana Kirchner, No Name, Horkýže Slíže, Desmod, I.M.T. Smile, and others. Of course everyone has different tastes. I thought some were very good such as Jana Kirchner and No Name, but I was indifferent to most others.

Reliefs of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava

Posted by Margarete on Oct 06

One of the dominant styles of architecture found in Bratislava, and across much of Slovakia, is a style called socialist realism. This style of architecture originated in the Soviet Union and then was spread to many other communist countries. In Wikipedia, socialist realism is described as follows:

“[Socialist realism] depicts and glorifies the struggle toward socialist progress… . Its purpose was to elevate the common worker, whether factory or agricultural, by presenting his life, work, and recreation as admirable. In other words, its goal was to educate the people in the goals and meaning of Communism.”