Wire-making It is one of the best-known Slovak crafts. Itinerant tinkerers once travelled the world, mending earthenware pots with wire and, later, using it to create both practical and decorative objects. In 2019, wire-working was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In the Šariš region, this craft is also kept alive by Jana Mihaličová.
From ethnology to wire
Jana Mihaličová is a qualified ethnologist. During her studies, she was introduced to a number of traditional crafts, but it was wire-working that captivated her most. She has been practising it for over twenty years and is one of Slovakia’s active wire-work craftspeople. She also works as a teacher, so she is passionate not only about the craft itself, but also about passing it on to the next generation.
What takes shape in her hands
She creates wire-wrapped Easter eggs, bells, jewellery, candlesticks, wire-wrapped bottles and ‘trees of happiness’ from wire and beads. Each piece is crafted by hand, with the patience that is an integral part of wirework. It combines traditional techniques with a contemporary approach to applied art.
Jana Mihaličová organises creative workshops for schools, senior citizens and tourists. Under her guidance, participants try their hand at the basics of wirework and take home an item they have made themselves. She believes that wirework offers excellent relaxation and a sense of fulfilment at any age.
Source: OOCR RŠ
Source of photographs: OOCR RŠ
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Creative wirework
Jana Mihaličová, an ethnologist and teacher, has been practising wire-working – a craft listed by UNESCO – for more than twenty years. She creates Easter eggs, bells and jewellery from wire and passes on her skills to children, older people and tourists at workshops.
