Ján Aláč: Tombstones from Novohrad
Stone tombstones marking the graves of Lutherans of the Augsburg Confession and dating from the end of the nineteenth and first decades of the twentieth century are a unique demonstration of folk art and creativity in the northwest part of Novohrad (a region of south Slovakia). Several trends are joined into one when creating them. The first one is the overall inclination of that period to increased decorativeness. Further, it is the confession of the inhabitants of this region determining the form and shape. The third is the growth of stone masonry, which can be noted in the whole country from the second half of the nineteenth century due to the increased endeavour of creating infrastructure – roads, bridges and railways. The tombstone’s creator was not a professional stone mason. Creating them was merely an additional activity along with traditional agriculture. The appearance of tombstones in Novohrad in many ways talks about the period, patterns and symbols that dominated. They are only memories to remember the whole which in its pretended simplicity and monotony was more colourful than one could see at first sight. It was not a static picture, even though burial customs are the most conservative customs of all folk traditions. The appearance of tombstones was in practice constantly changing. Since the end of nineteenth up to mid twentieth century, when we can still talk about folk tombstone creation, one can find seven or eight developments in stone tombstones. Tombstones are really a stone database of the signs and symbols concentrated in the small area of the cemetery. In this sense, it is valid to talk about cemeteries as places of collective memory. Ornamental decoration is full of signs and symbols whose original sense was in time reduced to a level of decorativeness; however, at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it still remained, even if only in fragments or under the influence of tradition. From the beginning of the twentieth century, the mass of the tombstone is significantly decreased and the decorativeness is reduced.
Further articles magazine Craft, Art, Design 03/2005:
- Object – surface – structure
- Xénia Lettrichová: Ideas and implementation
- Dana Doricová: House, home and a place for beloved books The artistic book binding of architect Viera Mecková
- Ľubica Pavlovičová: An exhibition a little bit about the past but mostly about the present SAC + SAI + SUA = 75
- Viera Kleinová: Last … or First?
- Eva Trojanová: Playing with light
- Tibor Uhrín: About craft and design
- Mojmír Benža: Exhibition that they liked…
- Martin Mešša: Weaving days in the Court of Crafts of ÚĽUV
- Martin Mešša: Margita Hanáková
- Juraj Zajonc: Anna Drobová - Creative development of traditional bobbin lace
- Elena Kurincová: Until the bride said “I do”
- ÚĽUV is 60 years old
- Dita Nociarová: Writing on textile
- Ján Aláč: Tombstones from Novohrad
- Martin Mešša: Wrought crosses