Lullaby: Babies in Slovak Folk Dress

Slovak photographer Monika Klučiarová combines stunning Slovak folk dress (kroje) with adorable 10-day old babies to create spectacular portraits. The artist perceives the Slovak folk kroje as mosaics consisting of many details that result in one priceless whole. In addition to the Slovak cultural heritage value, the kroje showcase incredible colors and geometric and other patterns that naturally lend themselves as objects of photographic art.

As a professional family photographer, whose passion has always been taking photos of newborn babies, Klučiarová had been increasingly interested in taking her work to the next level of artistic expression. Thus came the idea of merging the innocent beauty of newborns with the treasured textiles of her ancestors – kroje. The kroje were tailor-made and embroidered by using traditional processes and techniques by many skilled seamstresses across Slovakia. The kroje in this exhibit represent almost a dozen Slovak folk regions.

Lullaby: Babies in Slovak Folk Dress will include 36 large portraits. In addition, selections from The Baine/Cincebeaux Collection of Czech & Slovak Folk Dress and Folk Art will be displayed next to the portraits, giving visitors a view of authentic folk dress.