Rings in Water

The international craft-oriented design competition Rings on Water is a platform for confronting new works seeking inspiration in traditional crafts, which has been organised by the Slovak Centre for Folk Art Production at regular two-year intervals since 2000. The mission of the competition is to develop a dialogue about traditional values, their preservation and innovation in contemporary crafts, applied arts and design. The aim is to highlight the need for the transformation of craft, possible intersections into design and to initiate collaborations between craftspeople and professional designers. The ÚLUV is based on the conviction that craft-oriented design, highlighting the culture of handmade utilitarian and decorative objects, is a driving force for innovation also in the field of traditional craftsmanship.

In the open call for the current 12th edition of the competition, professional designers and university students have submitted their works in a separate section A, taking into account craft approaches in their contemporary designs or using tradition in a broader sense as inspiration for experimental design. In the next section B, artisans and traditional producers of artisanal products with regard to the possibilities of serial reproducibility are presented, emphasising the functional, aesthetic and ecological aspects of the products in their work.

It is also important for ÚĽUV to support designers at the stage of their professional formation in secondary schools with an artistic focus, which is why the competition provides them with space in a separate section C, where they submit works inspired by the practices or patterns of traditional craftsmanship, made from natural and, to a lesser extent, alternative materials.

Among the 234 entries, an international jury of experts selected 83 artists whose works will be presented at the Rings on Water 2024 competition show.