About us
ZUZANA SÉNÁŠIOVÁ & ĽUBOMÍR SABO
Internationally award winning photographers Zuzana Sénášiová and Ľubomír Sabo of LSZ Photography bring two independent insights yet a unique sense artistic harmony to their work. All of their ideas are original ideas, and result in unusual yet engaging adaptations that capture and emphasize the beauty and nature of Slovak women. One a woman, the other a man, the sense of dynamic and creativity within their ying-yang-like partnership shines through their artwork. Winning first place for Asian Top Trend Photographer at the prestigious 2014 TREND ASIA AWARDS (China) only spotlights just how good they are. They have also worked as photo-journalists for dozens of domestic and foreign magazines. They were the bethe official photographers of Miss Slovakia 2016
The depth of the idea that loudly breaths through an artistic expressions, is presented in their latest project “Party” in the 21st Century. With the help of ethnologists and other artists, this idea was being created for nearly three years. Almost extinct cultural “jewels” of Slovakia brings a modern look especially to the younger generation. The study of historical sources, selection of festive “party”and wreaths, photo compositions and authentic folk ornaments, represent an important part of the painting along with face paintings on canvas. It embodies the project’s return to folk traditions and values, with artistic execution which purposely appeals to the current generation.
How did the idea of the project arise?
We started with a clear idea to connect the Folk heritage with an artistic processing that will appeal to the audience, which mostly consists of younger generation. It should also engage professional public and with its uniqueness we want to introduce the Slovak cultural heritage to people at home and abroad and also to Slovak people living around the world.
In cooperation with ethnologist Katarína Sabová, which has become a guarantor of the project, and significantly participated in creating the whole idea of this project, we have made a selection of traditional “party” and wreaths from all over Slovakia, and also plunged deeper into the history of folk clothing. We searched for ornaments and symbolism of folk traditions to photograph every detail, and fulfill the intentions of the project. We have selected a team of young artists, professionals in their artistic field, who contributed to the resulting limited collection of photo-paintings with their professional approach. We ourselves have been more and more fascinated by the variety and richness of our cultural heritage during working on this project.
Our goal was to create a project that truly captures the history, but also has a modern twist to it. It was important to also catch the attention of young people and encourage them to be more pride of where they come from. We kept the tradition that “party” could be only worn by childless, single girls, therefore our models embodied these attributes. Ornaments on the faces of models and paintings on canvas are represented by folk motives, that originally come from the regions from where the “party” originated. The styling and photograph composition reflects historical footage. The models put themselves in the role’s of future brides and in the severity of the festive moments that were expressed in their faces. Parts of folk clothes that appear in the photos, come from the same villages as the “party”. Due to this fact, our project is exceptional, and we are proud that we could penetrate into the Slovak history and highlight the charm and richness of our folklore.
KATARÍNA SABOVÁ
Ethnological guarantor Katarína Sabová headed a team of twenty Slovak ethnologists to research this project. In search of ancient headbands and other parts of traditional folkdress, she still continues to deepen her knowledge about the traditional “parta” – on which she wants to publish a book later. She was also the first person who initiated the idea to raise awareness about the nearly forgotten head accessories of Slovak past and to present its unique beauty and rarity.
Why I initiated the idea to revive our cultural heritage?
“My core idea was to show people the parta’s place [in Slovak culture] have from the 20th century to the present. Through this project, we were able to combine long forgotten and lost fragments of our Slovak history both with modern culture and with vision of our artists who participated. The finished product will represent Slovakia not only at home but also throughout the rest of the world. Hopefully, it will encourage people to trace the history of their own regions. I’m proud that we [i.e. Slovakia] are the country where: “Atop every crossed hill, a different “parta” you shall find.”
SARAH I. AVNI
Sarah is a renowned Slovak artist whose works are easily recognizable because of how she uses impasto, precious metals, gilding, and mixed pigments in order to play more effectively with light and shadow. She is inspired by eastern philosophy and its approach to things more than she is by western painting. In 2015, !theculturetrip.com! (an international cultural portal) ranked her among the top ten Slovak artists that one should be familiar with. She is also the artist behind the worldʼs best sport-themed stamp for 2011 (awarded the Stamp News).
In her work she melds the notion of freedom with light, floral patterns, and ornaments to create roses – the quintessential symbol of women in many cultures. Currently, she is interested in abstract art. She has showcased her illustrations in countless galleries across Europe. Morever, some of her pieces can be found in private collections in Russia, Switzerland, Great Britain, China , and the United States.
Why do I take part in this art project?
“Creating this limited “parta” edition is an amazing experience based on a collaboration of different artists working with different media types. Every one of them applied the best of his know-how, giving each picture a new perspective and dimensions. I drew from the traditions and patterns of the specific Slovak regions. Respecting their roots, I tried to go a little bit further and make them appealing to the people of today, to create timeless patterns. My methods were inspired by William Morris – a famous English artist – an author of patterns and a textile designer of the 19th century – whose patterns are still used today. Slovak folklore can, too, be a source of inspiration and beauty even in the 21st century.”
IVANA MINTÁLOVÁ
A new member on the Party in the 21st Century team, painter Ivana Mintálová has taken on the task of artistically completing a new series of paintings depicting girls wearing headbands belonging to the Slovakian minority in Vojvodina, Serbia.
Her decorative manuscript and talent are both recognizable through how she has re-designed Slovak symbols from the Baroque and Renaissance periods – juxtaposing her previous work.
She has created this particular series of six (plus) paintings using the relief technique to re-interpret ornaments through completely new vision that is dominated by the colours of precious metals.
PATRIK RAGO
A representative of the younger generation of ethnologists, who literally breathes for the Slovak history, traditions and folk costumes since his childhood. He is a passionate collector of folk costumes, some of which were created by him.
He paints ribbons and ornaments on the costumes, produces embroidery and is interested in old techniques of making accessories. Mr. Rago then his experiences translates into face paintings and exclusively for this project he reconstructed the „parta“ from Veľký Lom.
The idea of the project approached him?
“I think it is a great idea of how the traditional culture is brought closer to people who are not familiar with it in this unusual way. I myself learned a lot and got inspired, so it has been a real pleasure for me to work on this project which brought me enormous motivation.”
ANDREA ĽUBOCKÁ
Popular makeup artist is participating in the project with her unique face paintings . Thanks to its creativity, talent, energy and modern artistic vision she interprets the traditions and folklore in an exclusive way which makes it attractive for the young generation.
What was her artistic contribution to the project?
“The authors of the project came with a possibility of something completely new and different where I can fully express my creativity. Each face painting was individual and required a very specific approach, which was extremely motivating. By combining elements of folklore with other Slovak ornaments, original face paintings were born, which showed the richness and diversity of our regions and villages in Slovakia.”
About PARTY in the 21st Century
PARTY in the 21st Century is a spectacular joint art project by photographers Lubomir Sabo and Zuzana Senaslova, ethnologist Katarina Sabova, and painters Sarah I. Avni and Ivana Mintalova – all of whom have come together revive traditional values in a modern and original artistic way. The uniqueness of this original series of paintings in this collection comprises a rare combination of art, science, photography, ethnology, face-painting and artistic painting. Traditional wedding headgears and festive bonnets (i.e. parta) have been selected from different regions from Slovakia, and complemented with painted folk ornaments to present long forgotten customs to the contemporary world.
For this special art project, fifty-one original “party” were hand-picked from across Slovakia and and the Slovak villages of Vojvodina, Serbia. Since 2016, this exhibition has been held in forty-five locations around the world, including Slovakia, Shanghai, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, Pyeongchang, Moscow, Ottawa, New York and Washington D.C., Istanbul and has been visited by more than 600,000 people.
“Party in the 21st Century” had more than forty exhibitions around the world since first exhibition in November 2016. We are preparing over 15 exhibitions over the next two years.
The project is equally emphasized by originally composed fashion show and accompanying music that combines original, folk music with elements of the modern contemporary genres. Since 2018, exhibition is representing Slovak art and culture under the official brand GOOD IDEA SLOVAKIA for the best Slovak projects.
Limited edition of paintings on the nearly extinct Slovak “parta”
“PARTA” (sg) / “PARTY” (pl): A type of a fancy headband, and the symbol of adult, unmarried women [in Slovakian culture]. Brides used to wear them at their wedding ceremonies; it played a major role in in festive and ceremonial hair styling. Being the most important, as well as the most beautiful component of the wedding costume, the parta has always been richly decorated, and differs in style across each region of Slovakia. It varies in shape, size, materials used, ribbons, and accessories.
“Party” used to be a traditional component of Slovakian folk costumes for young, childless women from the 17th till 20th century. Now, it has become a central element of a unique art project that aims to regenerate Slovak treasures that are slowly being forgotten. The project shifts through numerous artistic spectrums, and maps the variety and diversity of almost every extinct “parta” and wreaths from their points of origin in Slovakia. It is important that a piece of cultural heritage be preserved, and symbolically reveal folk traditions to a modern spectator.
The artistic duo LSZ PHOTOGRAPHY in accordance with traditions and ways of ancestors took pictures of only young, single and childless girls. A mean of modern expression is an artistic way of face paintings based on traditional ornaments, and folk costumes to which a specific “parta” belonged. Beautiful Slovak actresses, singers, presenters, models, and businesswomen posed for the photography. The reference to historical photography mingles with the current embodiment of art photography, where models put themselves in the shoes of the brides and express how things used to be in the past. On each piece, you can watch both humbleness and seriousness of the moment which the modern photographers have completed. Painter Sarah I. Avni and ethnologist Katarína Sabová have worn two of the “party” in these limited edition paintings. As both were able fully identify themselves with the project, it was only natural to choose them as models.
Sources for the preparation of compositions were contemporary sources, which described the seriousness of exceptional moments. Photographs are filled with sense of symbolism and respect for Slovak traditions, while delivering a wide range of emotions and artistic representation that is looking at history through the lens of the modern world, close to the current young generation.
Artistically shot photographs are finished by hand-painted ornaments on the face. These photographs are printed on canvas and the painters Sarah I. Avni and Ivana Mintálová outstandingly completed the final version of them. With the use of acrylic paintings, the artist created a background for each photograph that comes from the ethnological reserch – the folk elements of each “parta” from certain villages and regions in Slovakia. The result is a series of an eye-catching paintings that represent abundance and diverse character of Slovak folk heritage. Ideological stratification of the project and attention to every detail show that “Party” in the 21st century project represent a strong artistic and historical legacy.
During almost five years of intense and dedicated work, more than one hundred people got involved in the project. Very important was a team of ethnologists, who oversaw the use of exactness of “party” and festive wreaths. Thanks to their relevant expertise, they were able to contribute to the reconstruction of four no longer existing “party”. From an ethnological point of view, this is the greatest benefit to the Slovak cultural heritage. The uniqueness of the project is equally emphasized by originally composed music that combines original, folk music with elements of the current/modern contemporary genres.
Each piece of art was produced using mixed media: artistic photography with acrylic on canvas. Each one holds a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) and come in three sizes: 60 x 90 cm, 80 x 120 cm and 120 x 180 cm.
Each original painting is also comes in an optional special edition packet containing 100 fine art prints – each of archival quality, numbered, certified, and signed by authors. You can choose from one of four sizes: 30 x 40 cm (A3), 40 x 60 cm (A2), 60 x 90 cm (A1), or 80 x 120 cm (A0).
Contact
If you are interested in more information about the project, paintings or cooperation with us, do not hesitate to contact us at: info@party21art.com
Ľubomír Sabo +421 905 260 564
Zuzana Sénášiová +421 903 926 330
www.lsz.sk
Sarah I. Avni
+421 904 484 842
www.sarahavni.com
Katarína Sabová
+421 917 101 795