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The woodcarver from Krásnohorská Dlhá Lúka, György Nagy, has inherited the skilful hands of a craftsman from his ancestors. He used to make monuments, pulpits, carved gates. In 2001, however, he suffered a serious injury, lost a part of his brain and spent eight days in a coma. He spent a year in a wheelchair with the left side of his body paralyzed, but he refused to give up - and got back on his feet. Together with his friends, he founded the Association of Gemer Craftsmen and became its chairman. The goal of the association is to revive folk crafts and to establish a creative workshop where the teaching of handicrafts will be given space. "We are now all grown up - it has been over 18 years since the founding of the association. Our members are craftsmen from Košice to I don't even know where... When we started, we would visit craftsmen and search. What crafts still remain in Gemer? Today it's the other way around, they now come to us.“ The association already has more than 100 members - potters, ceramists, woodcarvers, blacksmiths, coopers, basket weavers, bell founders, or lacemakers. The members - under the leadership of Juraj Nagy and with the help of donors - have managed to create the House of the Association of Gemer Craftsmen. Here you can find creative workshops for children and adults or exhibitions of products from the masters of their respective crafts. The youngest of them is the 22-year-old bell founder Robert Slíž. "Our products are originals; you won’t buy the same anywhere else. "That is why they make great gifts," that’s how György Nagy presents the offer of the House of Craftsmen. Združenie má už viac ako 100 členov - hrnčiarov, keramikárov, drevorezbárov, kováčov, debnárov, košikárov, zvonolejárov, či čipkárok. Členom pod vedením Juraja Nagy sa podarilo s pomocou darcov vytvoriť Dom Združenia Gemerských remeselníkov. Prebiehajú tu tvorivé dielne pre deti aj dospelých, návštevníci v ňom uvidia aj expozíciu výrobkov majstrov svojho remesla. Najmladší medzi nimi je 22- ročný výrobca zvonov Robert Slíž. „Naše výrobky sú originálne, také človek nikde inde nekúpi. Aj preto sú vhodné ako dar,“ prezentuje ponuku domu remeselníkov György Nagy.

Every year, the culmination of the Association’s activities is the Gemer Crafts Festival. Performances by dance ensembles, artists, presentations and demonstrations of crafts, market fairs. Every year, a thousand visitors and a hundred children take home souvenirs they made themselves. The basis of the vision of the Association of Gemer Craftsmen is to work with young people. "Every year we prepare a Crafts camp for children and youngsters. When young people develop a relationship with traditional crafts, we gain hope that they won’t disappear, that they will survive,“ says Juraj Nagy, satisfied that their efforts have made an impact. "Whether you are a Slovak, a Hungarian, or a Rom, we all just have to stick together and we’ll get results. Gemer is an example of this. The main thing is never to give up - I did the first children's camp a year after the accident. We need to show people that everything is possible. And what is important today, apart from the need to be a role model? Humility. Better yourself, build things with humility and respect for your environment and every profession," concludes György Nagy.

The Crafts of Gemer

Living stories