Modrotlac na Slovensku/[Blueprint in Slovakia]

Abstract

Kriskova reviews Modrotlac na Slovensku (Blueprint in Slovakia) by Olga Danglova.

OLGA DANGLOVÁ: Modrotlac na Slovensk u [Blueprint in Slovakia] Centre for Folk Art Production (ÚLUV) Institute of Ethnology SAS, Bratislava 2014, 376 p.

Issues of material culture are highly topical in present-day ethnology. Academic researches and researchers' interest concentrate mainly on the current globalisation processes and on their cultural and social contexts and consequences in the development of modern society. Evidence of a society's material culture is usually the subject of interest of memory institutions and museums, which mainly focus on its protection and preservation. A return to the traditional elements of material culture can be partly observed in the revitalisation efforts of our regions, towns and municipalities along with the raising number of handicraft festivals.

Blueprint is one of the areas of material culture which constitutes an important element in the development of our society not only within the narrow circle of clothing culture; it is the evidence of historic ethnic processes in a wider geographical context and a reflection of the social and cultural development both in the urban and rural environment from the 18th century until the end of the 19th century or, in the countryside, until the 2nd half of the 20th century. Blueprint manufacturing is linked to peasant production of flax and linen, and, as such, it is one of the strongest expressions of the visual arts of a community. The importance of blueprint is also proven by its expansion and use across almost the entire territory not only in traditional folk clothes (mainly parts of female clothes), but also interior textiles.

In spite of the importance of blueprint, the only comprehensive publication on this topic is by Josef Vydra from the 1950s. This area was later studied by several ethnologists who mostly dealt with partial thematic or regional relations and with their context. In spite of the recent massive boom in traditional handicrafts, blueprint production is slowly fading out.

The book Modrotlac na Slovensku [Blueprint in Slovakia] by Olga Danglová, launched at the end of 2014, is a new comprehensive monograph on blueprint. The author builds on her well-informed overview of the issue. The monograph proves her long-year systematic and consistent field work in ethnic, cultural, social and partly also economic contexts. Her own research materials are completed, documented or compared with the existing published knowledge by other authors in a diachronic development order and also in a synchronic regional and geographical context. The work is based on archival academic researches of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and on the current condition of this part of cultural heritage, preserved in authentic environments, and, in particular, on the collections of Slovak museums. Thus, the monograph is a complex modern scientific work on blueprint from the perspective of present-day science, which has so far been absent in our academic literature.

In the first parts of the publication, the author describes the historic and ethnic conditions and the context of textile printing up to its extension to our territory. The next large part deals with the economic and socio-cultural contexts of production after the disappearance of guilds, which largely contributed to the ex- pansion of dye workshops in rural areas up to the competitive and, at the same time, liquidating rise of industrial production. The author also focuses on the social dimension of production in the role of the very dyers, observing them as peasants, craftsmen and traders at a time. She also tackles the importance of mutual relations in blueprint production and linen production, not leaving out the regional context of production in the background of journeymen's wanderings and sale regions.

Olga Danglová dedicates much space to workshops, including a chapter on the technological and production process: generally known issues described by most authors in partial thematic publications. Because of its complexity, this topic is indispensable, and the author goes beyond of just describing the well-known facts by making them original thanks to regional examples or clarifying the meanings of apparent, yet often key details.

The book also describes the links of blueprint production to the Centre for Folk Art Production (ÚLUV), which later remained the only institutional form covering blueprint production and a bridge to preserving traditional blueprint production until today. The work mentions in various contexts the name of Stanislav Trnka, an important and so far the last blueprint master, through concrete examples, thus accentuating his importance in this field.

Blueprint forms represent the most comprehensive part of blueprint production. In addition to their practical function in linen printing, they can be considered a separate type of folk art given their specific nature and the way of production. Besides the specific technology of the production of forms, the design as such constitutes their essence. It not only shows the chronological development of craft manufacturing or adherence to a specific region or locality: they reflect the social context and links, and prove the skills and art of the masters. The author managed to fully present this essence of forms as elements of material culture with links between the meaning of patterns and the spiritual level.

The book not only fills the vacuum with regard to studies on material clothing culture in our present-day ethnology in terms of its topic, but is also the result of the author's long-year consistent research and her expert potential and serious work with sources. It proves her geographical knowledge, as reflected in the number of concrete regional background materials. The language of the book is professional and comprehensible at the time, and the refined and natural stylistics proves the author's high professional status. Given the monograph character of the publication, a wider elaboration on its methodological basis in the introduction would be desirable.

Undoubtedly, the high level of the publication is also due to rich, high-quality images both from field researches and archive sources. They document the preservation of blueprint production items in our museums, thus providing a comprehensive picture of the production, extension and use of blueprint in our territory throughout its development. The professional level of the book is adequately highlighted by its artistic layout. The monograph not only fills the academic vacuum in this specific area of ethnological science, but also provides high social benefits in clarifying and preserving the elements of the culture of our ancestors.