Creating of the exhibitions


Open-air museum exhibitions in

Slovakia

Museum of the Slovak Village

Katarína Očková
Slovak National Museum in Martin
Museum of the Slovak Village

Museums Meet Museums,

Romanian National Network of Museums,
Bucharest
September 15th – 16th, 2017
Open-air museums in Slovakia
 Creation of the nation-wide Slovak open-air
exhibition
1893 – documentation of traditional building culture in activities of the Museum Slovak
Corporation (Turčiansky sv. Martin)
1931 – the first proposal of creation of the open-air museum near the Slovak National Museum in
Martin (founding fathers: Dušan Jurkovič, Karel Chotek, Jozef Vydra)
1944 – translocation of the very first building (bell tower from Košťany, Martin district) into the
botanical garden of the Slovak National Museum in Martin
1965 – creation of an ethnographical conception (researches of the traditional folk building culture
in all regions of Slovakia, researchers determined choice of the building collections and exhibits).
There were 218 buildings chosen from 140 localities, plan of the exhibition to be consisting of 10
main areas of Slovakia
1967 – beginning of open-air museum creation / building, location: Jahodníky woods (1km far
from the town of Martin)
1971 – 1978 – state scientific task of the SNM in Martin – research of the traditional building
culture in 430 localities of Slovakia using cartographical methodology
Working out of the librettos and scenarios for open-air exhibition, first and second level of
technical documentation to the exhibition buildings, purchase of the buildings from owners
(purchasing of the buildings´ furnishing)
1972 – 1974 - first opening for the public (Orava region)

1984 – 1986 - second opening for the public (Orava region)

1985 – 1990-ies - actualisation of the ethnographical conception (from 1965)

Orientation of created exhibition changed from „collection of the folk
architectural buildings“... (stressing construction, layout and typological building
specifics, detailed analysis of urban methods that was understood as architectural creation or
activity (Museum of folk architecture)
... to contextual understanding of the whole exhibition (creation of complete
historical country structure, historical settlement cultural and natural environment, in-depth
historical-ethnographical research of the concrete houses / concrete family stories, so as
museum represents an everyday life reality (Museum of the Slovak Village)

1991 – opening the whole exhibition for the public

– organization of presentation activities or programmes with enlivening
demonstrations of traditional culture (folk, crafts, traditional agricultural
works...)

2003 – Actualisation of the ethnographical conception (PhDr. Jiří Langer, CSc.)

– working out of the historical-ethnographical studies of objects / houses
and households
 Nowadays (unfinished) exhibition
1967 – 1971 creating of the Orava exhibition region
1972 – 1974 creating of the Kysuce – Podjavorníky exhibition region
1974 – 1985 creating of the Liptov exhibition region
1986 – 1991 up to the present time – creating of the Turiec exhibition region (unfinished)
 Exhibition of the Museum of the Slovak Village
Nowadays area – 15,5 hectares (original conception 64,2 hectares)
150 exhibition buildings (houses or farm / technical / social / religion buildings)
11 500 exhibits of furnishing (furniture, agricultural and cultural historical collections)
25 accessible objects / exhibitions with interior both exterior furnishing
72 localities of the North-West Slovakia
Museum of the Roma Culture in Slovakia (from 2009)
 Methods and materials
Museum of the Slovak Village is ethnographic open-air museum
with traditional building culture in wider functional contexts:
Settlement creating
Historical – settlement environment development
Dwelling development
Family structure, living-in and life way
Occupations
Crafts and home manufacturing
Traditional technologies, materials, tools
These contexts are exactly expressed in:
Houses with dwelling and farming functions
Technical buildings (oil producing, wool producing, hatter and drapery,
blacksmith’s)
Sacral / religional objects (churches, chapels)
Social – communication objects (bell-towers, schools, shops, inns and wagon
house)
Solitaires and small architecture (hey barns, field seasonal stables, wells, etc.)
Research
Documentation
Journey of the object in to 

the open-air museum
Collecting of the exhibits
Collections care (conservation, restoration ...)
Preservation and curatorship
 Historical-ethnographical studies of the
exhibition groups

• (= parts of the exhibition, these are formed on basis of the regions

or areas of the characteristic folk architecture and traditional
culture)

• They solve the whole content of the exhibition and determine

concrete settlement, economical, social and cultural structure, the
specifics and changes in time line from the period 18th – first half of
the 20th century, all the important issues that represent synthesis of
traditional building culture from the typological, development,
technological point of view

• They express the most characteristic demonstrations of traditional

culture in all functional contexts, time and space relations that
correspond to the reconstructed historical settlement countryside.

( KIRIPOLSKÁ, Anna. Historical-ethnographical studies of objects and households.

Scientific research task, Archives of the Slovak National Museum in Martin, 2004 )
 Historical-ethnographical studies of the
objects / buildings and households

• they consist of the genealogy of the builder / owner of the building

up to the last owner with the notice of innovations, building
modifications, stories of the families who inhabited the houses,
documentation of furnishing, exchange of space use
• they consist of documentation of farm and agricultural, social,
cultural, religion and other relations
• dating of the object and documentation of all possible time periods
of its life is basic important information for time of presented
exhibition
• the study is very important as for reconstruction of all components
of the historical country in museum exhibition both with small
architecture, surrounding agricultural fields and gardens, historic
activities in exhibition

( KIRIPOLSKÁ, Anna. Historical-ethnographical studies of objects and households.

Scientific research task, Archives of the Slovak National Museum in Martin, 2004 )
 Technical scenario
Scenario of the exhibition object, household, group
• Is worked out on the basis of the historical-
ethnographical study

• It consists of:
» Exhibition intent of the object, household, group ...
» Suggestions of changes in construction works in compare
of building project in the museum ...
» Solving of the components of the historical settlement
countryside (communications, agro-exhibition, small
architecture...)
» Description of the functions and use of individual spaces
of the object / household...
» Proposal for the furnishing of the object / household with
the list of exhibits and specification of their installation ...
 Making up the exhibition

household from Východná village No. 414
The newest exhibitions
 



Household of the

Carpathian Germans
Firehouse from Laskár
Technical exhibitions
Short-term exhibitions
Displays
 

Plans for future


• Exhibition of Oravian home manufacturing and

crafts, 2018
(Interregional EU project, 2 partners from Poland and 3 partners from Slovakia)

• Exhibition on traditional building materials and

techniques, diagnostics and sanitation of the
objects, 2018-2019
(Interregional EU project, partner: Wallachian open-air museum, Czech
republic)
• Experience house
• School with traditional teaching
 How do we create exhibition and express the
phenomenon of an „EVERYDAY LIFE“ from far past?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION





Mgr. Katarína Očková

chief curator 

Museum of the Slovak Village

Slovak National Museum in Martin

katarina.ockova@snm.sk 

katarina.ockova@gmail.com