We all are convinced that it is necessary to preserve the so-called national heritage. It touches primarily arts and crafts products. It is necessary to know how all of it can be preserved since such understanding gradually vanishes in confrontation with present social progress. Besides, it seems to be important for me that the meeting about the actual development of folk culture should be devoted to thinking not only of how something is to be preserved, but we should ask ourselves why and what do we want to preserve. We are united on the fact that museum-purpose preservation is necessary as it is something which future generations will be grateful for. This, however, is not the only way how to rule out forgettlng about tradition. It is also possible to try to plant those parts of tradition which we consider worthwhile preserving in our modern society. Whereas the first possibility is a static one and requires historical trustworthiness and is related to a certain part of the past, the other way is dynamic, hybrid and up-to-date. By the first approach a piece of the past is cut off to be immortalized in the present, while the other approach sees the present itself contain the past. The other approach makes up the core of my contribution. I will be discusslng two problematlc aspects which must be taken into account if we intend to achieve the merging of tradltonal elements with our present society in a posltive sense: the reification of tradition and the idea of ethnicity which is a part of folklorism.

International conference Dolná Krupa, 1993, Slovakia. Ústredie fudovej umeleckej výroby Internationales Organization dür Volkskunst, UNESCO.

Peer reviewed