RITAM SRBIJE / RHYTHM OF SERBIA
Istorija Slovaka u Srbiji Kovačica je osnovana 1802. godine. Slovaci su u ove krajeve došli na poziv austrougarskog cara da bi čuvali granicu između dve velike oblasti: Austrougar- ske i Osmanskog carstva. I do danas na ovim pro- storima u Srbiji živi više do 52.000 Slovaka.
THE HISTORY OF SLOVAKS IN SERBIA Kovačica was founded in 1802. Slovaks came here at the invitation of the then Aus- tro-Hungarian emperor to guard the border between the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Empire. They have remained resident here until the present day and the country is today home to more than 50,000 Slovaks.
Žetva (Zuzana Halupova) Harvesting (Zuzana Chalupova)
ive art world in the municipality of Kovačica, when painters from oth- er areas and of different nationalities began appearing in Kovačica. The Gallery of Naïve Art grad- ually became an independent insti- tution of culture, hosting an annual exhibition of paintings by Kovači- ca naive artists each autumn, un- der the scope of the “Kovačički Ok- tober” event. Countless works by naïve painters from the municipali- ty of Kovačica can be found in many world-renowned galleries and mu- seums, while the Gallery itself has been toured by hundreds of thou- sands of fans of naive art, includ- ing many world-famous celebrities. Kovačica has welcomed the Rolling Stones, Alain Delon, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, the Apollo 11 crew, François Mitterrand and Pelé, among many others. Slovak naive painting continues to live on from generation to gen- eration, which is why it isn’t pecu- liar that the Babka Gallery, togeth- er with the Municipality of Kovačica, has launched an initiative for this na- ive art to be included the UNESCO list. The Republic of Serbia’s commis- sion for cooperation with UNESCO is a proud and enduring patron of cel- ebrations marking the Internation- al Native Language Day, which the Babka Foundation has organised each year in the village Kovačica in Vo- jvodina, Serbia, since this UNESCO manifestation was first established 20 years ago. Through conservation and the nurturing of their native lan- guage, ethnic Slovaks from Kovačica have successfully and paradigmatical-
ly passed on their traditional knowl- edge and special culture to future gen- erations for two centuries. The native language is part of a broader cultur- al assemblage of Slovaks in Kovači- ca, which represents one of four cen- tral hubs of Yugoslav naive painting. “The native language and naive painting in Kovačica function not on- ly interlinked, but also as a type of a culture counterpoint, a dyad of image and word, a proactive and attractive idea on the cognitive and artistic liai- son of the verbal and the visual. The Commission of the Republic of Serbia for cooperation with UNESCO firmly believes that the International Native Language Day promotes, all around the world, multilingualism and mul- ticulturalism, which inspire solidari- ty among people and nations, based on communication, tolerance, under- standing and dialogue,” said Goran Milašinović, President of the Com- mission of the Republic of Serbia for UNESCO. An exhibition of Slovak naïve paintings from Serbia that was held to mark International Mother Lan- guage Day celebrations at the UNE- SCO Headquarters in Paris was also supported by famous Slovak politi- cian and diplomat Miroslav Lajčák. “Both Slovaks and Serbs can be proud of our mutual effort to cul- tivate the idea of tolerance, under- standing and belonging through ar- tistic expression (described as naïve in style, but certainly not in sub- stance). Slovakia is proud of our de- scendants, whose ancestors left the motherland of contemporary Slova- kia and for centuries have retained
Zima (Klara Babka) Winter (Klara Babka(
the Slovak language, traditions and customs in their new home coun- tries, including the Serbian Vojvodi- na,” said Lajčák. He stressed that this kind of fine art became famous around the world thanks in particular to Zuzana Cha- lupová, whose painting was issued as a UNICEF postcard in 1972, selling over two million copies worldwide. “Thanks to an authentic and unique artistic expression, Serbia has inscribed the naïve art of the Slo- vak painters from Kovačica on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage and I strongly believe that an inscription on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO will soon follow,” said Lajčák, whose office wall is decorat- ed with a large painting by Ján Gozík from Kovačica. A special debt of grati- tude, as he says, should also be paid to Pavel Babka, who tirelessly promotes the naïve art of Kovačica worldwide, bringing renown to Kovačica paint- ers and Slovaks in Serbia.
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