Wednesday, July 21, 2010

ABC WEDNESDAY "A" is for "artisan"

Meet Jan Nemcek, an ethnic Slovak, who lives in the village of Kovacica (Ko-VA-cheet-sa) about an hour's drive from Belgrade. Kovacica is home to several artists and artisans. Mr. Nemcek has been making violins all his life, maintaining a tradition in his family of several generations. That long instrument is a kind of Slovakian flute.

His wife also creates handicrafts and pottery. If you'd like to watch a video, you can check out this Youtube site and you can also look at his site (in Slovakian...but there are photos.)

See other A's on ABC WEDNESDAY.

22 comments:

Lowell said...

Anyone who can do this kind of work should be provided whatever is necessary to continue his craft. It's amazing and wonderful to see in our technological, computerized world!

Luis Gomez said...

These are wonderful! What a great work he does.

photowannabe said...

Amazing beautiful craftmanship. I love seeing that type of thing being carried on through the generations.
Perfect post for the letter A.

Sylvia K said...

What a marvelous and interesting post for the A Day! What a great talent to have! Love your photos! I'm going to check out the video now! Hope you have a great week!

Sylvia

signed...bkm said...

Amazing talent, I am always in awe of a great Artisan like this gentleman...what the world would lack without them...bkm

Tash said...

I love your collage, each photo is so important to tell the whole story. Amazing craftsman! Beautiful instruments and the shop is lovely.
We have Serbo-Slovak friends from Stara Pazova who lived in Pula for many years. It's the only other Slavic language I can mostly understand. The Slovaks have lived there for 100s of years and still maintained the language which I found really interesting.

Gayle said...

What a treasure to have a talent such as that. Hope craftmanship like that never goes away.

Hilda said...

A is also for applause, which is what I want to do for him, and all other artisans. Beautiful work!

Virginia said...

I love the idea of a collage to showcase this wonderful artisan. Lovely images, Bibi.
V

Anonymous said...

Oh, the intelligence of that hand.

Tumblewords: said...

What beautiful craftsmanship - a pleasure to see - excellent post!

Gaelyn said...

Such a noble and ancient skill. Probably a dieing art.

dianasfaria.com said...

I agree with Jacob completely!
& I love Jan's workshop.

Roger Owen Green said...

I'm very much pro-art and music. Such skill! Impressive!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Suburban Girl said...

He looks like a master at his craft.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Wonderful, expressive photos. The collage tells his story so well. Thanks for the links, too.

Daryl said...

LOVE the shot of this hand

Alexa said...

Thanks so much for sharing this, Bibi! What a lucky man to be able to make his living this way, especially in this day and age. Hope the tradition continues.

Unknown said...

Very affecting photos and story of an artist/artisan. I just heard a violin maker from New York City interviewed on National Public Radio talking about the pending sale of a Guanerius violin. The thought of violins reflecting their makers and the materials they are made from is amazing. Here's to the subtleties of the handmade in mass production world!
Helen Mac, ABC Team Newbie

Petrus said...

The colour of the violin is some rich and vibrant - just like the violin sound I suppose.

A for Artisan is a good choice ..

Jilly said...

The craftsmanship is mindblowing. So beautiful. A perfect selection of shots to make this superb collage. Love it so much.

Vinay Leo R. said...

a great artist indeed.. i loved the violins..!

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.