The Slovak passport. (source: TASR)
At a press conference last week, Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas) unveiled the design of Slovakia's new passports, which he described as embodying "symbols of our popular culture and nation".
In addition to the depictions of the eight regional capitals as well as the Slovak cultural monuments registered in UNESCO, the new passports are to feature protective designs inspired by hand-painted ornaments from the village of Čičmany, northern Slovakia.
However, according to the Slovenský Folklór bez Fejku (Slovak fakeless folklore) Facebook page, whose co-creator is folklorist Zuzana Tajek Piešová from Čičmany, the pattern used in the passports is an imitation and does not correspond to the original ornaments, reports Sme daily.
A specimen of the new Slovak passport. (source: TASR)
The page pointed out that the pattern chosen by the Interior Ministry is the same one used by Polish graphic artist Agnieszka Murphy on Internet image banks.
Identical designs to those used by the ministry can be found, for example, on Dreamstime. The description clearly states that it is not an original, but an inspiration; it reads "Slovak tribal folk vector seamless geometric pattern of birds inspired by traditional painted houses".
When approach by the daily, the Polish designer said that it was 'cool' that the Slovak government had used her designs. "Since your Interior Ministry is a state institution, I hope that they have purchased the appropriate license," Agnieszka Murphy concluded.
There is no record in the Central Registry of Contracts that the ministry purchased a licence from Murphy or her company Redkoala.
Tajek Piešová did not hide her disdain and bewilderment, calling it "a dilettante splurge by some official".
During the press conference, Šutaj Eštok said that the design was made by "interior capacity".
According to Martin Hrachala, head of the ministry's IT department, internal experts, experts from the heraldic register and other people who deal with heraldry in Slovakia, as well as the ministry's security department were called to participate.
Slovakia's new travel documents are being supplied by the French firm Thales DIS France SAS, one of three companies contracted by the ministry to provide blank documents. This year, Thales is set to deliver 200,000 blank passports and 17,500 additional travel documents.
Slovakia has been issuing biometric travel documents with a contactless chip since 2008.
