An open-air display on Hviezdoslavovo Square in Bratislava celebrates Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee and 70 years of service to the people of the Commnonwealth. (source: TASR - Jakub Kotian)
A peak home to Warhol’s works
Kremenec, a peak where Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine meet, will become a temporary home to eight Andy Warhol artworks on August 5.
The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art’s new concept of experimental displays, “15 Minutes of Fame”, aims to present art in unusual places and connect the planned with the unexpected.
“Our intention is not for people to come to a specific place because of the works, but rather to surprise tourists who are in the area,” the museum’s director Martin Cubjak told the TASR news agency.
Kremenec as the location of the first outdoor exhibition is symbolic.
“It is both an environment typical of the area in which Warhol’s parents lived, and also in the current situation of the war conflict in Ukraine, Kremenec is a symbolic place where the ‘world of the European Union’ meets the Ukrainian one,” explained Cubjak.
Andy Warhol artworks are exhibited at a peak called Kremenec, eastern Slovakia. (source: Facebook/Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art)
The town of Miková, Sninský kameň (peak), Death Valley with tanks, and abandoned buildings of the collective farms should serve as other exhibition locations.
Other weekend tips:
River Danube: The replica of a Roman ship will make a stop in Bratislava at the weekend, August 5-7, on its way to Romania. On August 8-9, the replica will be anchored in Komárno.
Bojnice Castle: Evening walking tours will take place on August 5-6, starting at 19:30. Several ghosts are eager to meet visitors.
Hiking challenge: The National Sports Centre has launched a summer-autumn hiking challenge, "Vykroč na vrchol, Slovensko!", which ends October 29. Hikers are encouraged to climb Téry Hut or Zbojnícka Hut, Ďumbier, Kriváň and Rysy.
Podcast:Eight foreigners speak about their experiences of leaving home and coming to Slovakia.
TRAVEL
Overlooked Plešivec Plateau
Serényi's Cistern, a technical monument, somewhere in the Plešivec Plateau in the Slovenský Kras National Park. (source: TASR - Branislav Caban)
Located in the historical region of Gemer, situated between the city of Rožňava and villages of Štítnik and Plešivec, the plateau is the most important plateau of the Slovak Karst National Park.
It rises almost 400 metres from the valley, surpassing the surrounding terrain.
More than a hundred years ago, part of the plateau was used for grazing cattle, sheep and horses. For this reason, a cistern was built in the middle of nowhere for animals to drink water.
This part of the Slovak Karst also has a network of hiking trails that lead across the plateau.
More travel news
A field trail called Ukraine near the Slovak Paradise National Park has been asphalted, making a bicycle ride in between local villages more pleasant.
A newly restored calvary in the Orava region will reopen next week.
Boaters, campers and cyclists have a new place to rest and camp by the River Bodrog in eastern Slovakia.
By a castle in Hronsek, central Slovakia, people can travel back in time, living like people in the Middle Ages used to for a while.
ART
Gay love can last for life
Dandy in Fur Cap with Pipe. (1877-80) (source: Slovak National Gallery/Ladislav Mednyánszky)
Slovak-Hungarian painter Ladislav Mednyánszky often painted men, from poor men to soldiers, in addition to landscape.
Rarely did he paint women.
In recent years, studying his diaries, experts from Slovakia and Hungary have found out that the painter was homosexual. They even learnt that he truly loved just one man, Bálint.
Though the painter loved his “bunny” for life and unconditionally, his family did not realise his last wish.
Strážky: The painter spent a lot of time in the town. His family lived in a local manor house. Today, the house serves as an art gallery where you can see some of his paintings.
MUSEUM
The Jewish women starting 11
Estée Lauder has Slovak roots. (source: Jana Liptáková)
Esteé Lauder was a successful cosmetics entrepreneur, one of the most influential people in business in the 20th century.
Her family’s roots are in Slovakia. However, she never admitted to it.
Lauder is one of 11 exceptional Jewish women with links to Slovakia whose stories are told by the Museum of Jewish Culture in Bratislava until November.
Jewish heritage: See the map of Jewish sights, cemeteries and synagogues in Slovakia.
OTHER NEWS
The crypt under the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Žilina is a research paradise for archaeologists and anthropologists.
Slovak cameraman Igor Luther was born on August 5, 1942, in Banská Bystrica. He worked on “The Tin Drum”, a 1980 Oscar-winning German film. Luther died in Croatia two summers ago.
International Beer Day falls on August 5. Every Slovak drank an average of 120 pints of beer (60.2 l) last year, which is the least in the last 30 years. The most beer was drunk in Slovakia in 1990, when every resident of Slovakia, regardless of age, consumed an average of just under 96 litres of beer a year. (source: TASR - František Iván)
Grape, a music festival, will take place at the airport in Trenčín next weekend, August 12-13. Years & Years and The Vaccines are just some of the acts to play the festival.
That’s it for this week. Enjoy your weekend and have a pint! - Peter
Do you have any tips? You can reach Peter at peter.dlhopolec@spectator.sk
