Culture shorts

Popular actress dies


Katarína Kolníková (centre) will certainly be missed.
photo: TASR

KATARÍNA Kolníková, a popular actress who performed for years at the Radošinské naivné divadlo (Radošiná Naive Theatre), died on May 29 at the age of 85.

"We saw each other two weeks ago. She came to our performance in Piešťany and liked it a lot," the theatre's director, Stanislav Štepka, told the TASR news wire on May 30.

Kolníková was known for her kind-heartedness and "human" humour. Štepka and she first met 59 years ago at a kindergarten, where she worked as a school-keeper and nanny. The two were drawn together through a mutual love for theatre. Kolníková became a member of the Radošinské naivné divadlo in 1970 and made her debut the next year in Človečina (Human-ness), a title that became synonymous with the warmth she radiated in life and during each performance.

"She knew how to spread joy and love not only to theatregoers but everybody lucky enough to be in her presence. There is now an empty space in the Radošinské naivné divadlo and Slovak culture in general, and especially in many people hearts," Culture Minister Rudolf Chmel commented.



Minorities group in large


A CELEBRATION of culture by 12 national minorities living in Slovakia will liven up the streets of Bratislava and Humenné over the following weekend.

On the evenings of June 10 and 11, a dozen music bands from Slovakia with guests from Hungary and the Czech Republic will perform at concerts in Bratislava's Incheba halls during the Festival of National Minorities. Among the performers is renowned Hungarian-Slovak world-music group Ghymes and Slovak bands Mladé srdcia and Karpaty. Folk legend Moravanka, country-folk singer Honza Nedvěd and popular band Buty will represent the Czech Republic. Vázsonyi János and his Triton band will arrive from Hungary.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the country, the very eastern town of Hummené, will host a gathering of minorities for the World Day of Refugees between June 9 and 11. On its first day, over 20 folk ensembles will take part in the gala-programme, Our Mutual Roots, enacting various traditional customs from Goral's wedding and Ruthenian (Rusyn) songs to Roma, Hungarian and Carpathian-German dances. Plays, concerts, exhibitions, crafts demonstrations and folk entertainment with traditional food specialities will enrich the event.

Part of the World's Day of Refugees is opening of the Asylum House in Humenné.

The Festival of National Minorities annually groups the culture of Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Hungarian, Moravian, German, Polish, Roma, Ruthenian, Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish minorities living in Slovakia.

The events are held under the auspices of Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, acting Speaker of Parliament Béla Bugár, State Secretary for Culture Ministry Ágnes Biró and the Humenné Mayor Vladimír Kostilník. For more information, visit www.narodnostnyfestival.sk.



UFO closes for almost a month


The UFO restaurant that sits above Bratislava's New Bridge will close between June 2 and 25 due to an inspection of the lift that carries patrons to it. The restaurant and terrace, which reopened after a huge facelift one year ago, offer one of the most beautiful views of Bratislava in the city.



Useful gadgets or accessories?


ONE can hardly imagine life without a mobile phone, but that useful gadget could be a little more aesthetically pleasing.

That's why mobile phone producer BenQ Mobile organized a contest in which students from the Academy of Fine Arts and Designs (VŠVU) were asked to come up with ideas on how to fit mobile phones into the latest fashion trends.

Andrea Kvasnicová was one of three awarded for her exclusive strings made from pearls and Swarovsky crystals. Katarína Zóraádová excelled with a number of tie variations that offer men a place to keep their mobiles. Dagmar Hrnčárová was awarded for her design of a mobile phone bag made from delicate net.



SNG exhibits Warhol's soups


THE SLOVAK National Gallery (SNG) in Bratislava displays one of its latest acquisitions - Andy Warhol's famous silk-screen Campbell's soup paintings - until June 15. Along with the portrait of Marilyn Monroe, the "soups" are the the world-renowned American pop artist's best-known works.

The gallery acquired the original series from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for $336,000. The pictures are the first works by Warhol the national gallery owns, despite the fact his parents, who were of Ruthenian (Rusyn) origin, came from Miková, a village near the eastern Slovak town of Medzilaborce, which houses the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art.

The Campbell's soup theme first caught the attention of the "King of Pop Art" in 1961, seven years before he finally painted them on canvas. Warhol later created two series of silk-screens, turning the "portrait" of a mundane Campbell's soup can into an immortal token of pop art.

The soups displayed at the SNG create the impression they are standing on a shelf in a store, which is usually the way Warhol's adaptations of ordinary items are displayed.

After June 15, the works will wait in the gallery's deposit to be re-exhibited, this time permanently, in the SNG's newly reconstructed premises. Meanwhile, several galleries from neighbouring countries have expressed interest in borrowing them.

The SNG is housed in Esterházy Palace at Námestie Ľ Štúra 4 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30.



Divan wins the Café of the Town


THE DIVAN coffe house at Panská 9 in Bratislava received an award from Bratislava Mayor Andrej Ďurkovský on June 1 for winning the Café House of the Town 2006 competition. The competition was a second effort to evaluate how well Bratislava's cafés have been restoring the city's glorious pre-war café heritage.


Prepared by Spectator staff

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