Symbols of Christmas in the Traditional Culture of Slovakia

The best known symbols of Christmas in the traditional culture of Slovakia will be on display at the Zagreb Ethnographic Museum until 13 January. The exhibits come from the Slovakian National Museum in Martin.

Christmas symbols – nativity scenes, altar sculptures and statuettes, are but a small part of the exceptionally valuable collection of the Slovakian National Museum in Martin, which holds over 100,000 ethnographic artifacts. Together with the exhibits from other areas – archeology, the arts, history, history of art and sciences, the museum holds almost 500,000 objects.

Although this is only a small part of the entire holding, the nativity scenes of the Slovakian National Museum are a part of the valuable collection, most of which originate from the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The main centers of the nativity scene manufacture were the Slovakian mining areas. Wood was a very important part of the miners’ life. Their imagination and familiarity with the properties of wood explains the origin of a special expression in the traditional art. 

The second and considerably smaller group consists of the nativity scenes made in the north of Slovakia, more precisely in Orava and Kysuc. On display at the Zagreb Ethnographic Museum are two main types of nativity scenes from those areas – the fixed, immobile nativity scenes, and the mobile, mechanically constructed objects which show the traditional Bethlehem nativity scene. Also on display at the Zagreb exhibition are paintings on glass which depict visible Austrian, German and Schlesian influences. Artists have been making them since the beginning of the 19th century.
The exhibition also shows very simple bell-shaped altar statues dressed in modest clothes that correspond to the liturgical period

At the same time, the visitors of the Ethnographic Museum can also see the exhibition entitled “The Amazing World of Angels” which will be open until the end of April 2008. This is an interdisciplinary exhibition which shows the variety of cultural, historical and artistic heritage which exists in the territory of Croatia in respect to this particular topic.
The exhibits on display have been brought from various parts of Croatia and from the holdings of other museums. They depict divine creatures and angels in time and space.
The variety and quantity of angelic statuettes from the museums’ holdings has made it possible to classify angels into different categories, namely adoring angels, torch-bearers, floating angels, instrument playing angels and angelic heads. Some of the angelic statues on display are the angel torchbearer from the beginning of the 17th century who allegedly hails from Dalmatia; the adoring angel from the second half of the 18th century, the floating angel from the mid-18th century and the 18th century angelic heads which originate from northern Croatia.
While the exhibition is open, there will also be other events dedicated to angels, such as art workshops, making decorative objects and so on.