"When we were in Austria, we had two gentlemen there, as if ideological supervision, and that was also the case that it was part of the international festival, and I know that there were such participation rules that they received some kind of margin, some kind of payment. And it happened to us that we received a certain amount of marks and (shillings) and from those shillings these two gentlemen arbitrarily took the "tithe of the harvest". And they were so loving that they admitted to us that they needed to buy cosmetics and such for their wives. So we were supposed to get let's say 700 shillings and they took 300 of it. But what was worse was what completely hit me, so after the revolution, it was sometime in '91, suddenly one of those gentlemen appeared who was like an ideological supervisor before the revolution and they did this, he appeared as part of the municipality of the capital as some kind of secretary , and came to the file that he was in charge of some sponsorship money. Some heard that what does that mean?!'
(1) 0:43:46 – 0:45:42 - Zuzana traveled abroad as a folklorist, a political supervisor accompanied them
„That's such a phenomenon, folk clothing, it also has its own rules, historically. It has its own rules, you also can't wear renaissance stockings and a baroque wig, that has its own rules. Even the costume, you can't catch up. The same applies to folk clothing. They have been adapting to events over the year. Folk clothing is an identity card, they could tell from it whether he was single, unmarried, married, how many children he had, even such things could be read. Is she a widow, is she at an age where she should wear the costume of an old person. That is a phenomenon in its own way. That poor person, in addition to the fact that he had to turn around and work so hard and create and decorate on top of that, he had refined taste, that's perfection for me and that's why I dedicate myself to it.“
(2) 1:51:12 - 1:52:27 Folk clothing is a phenomenon, the entire social status of the owner can be read from it
„In politics, it is a complete dishonor. For me, it is a complete dishonor of traditional culture as such. For every such completely extreme event, the answer is the opposite extreme. The false morality being addressed here? The answer is pornography and such things, which under normal circumstances, a person does not even need for that perception. But when someone imposes something on you or takes care of your life or solves things they don't understand. This is exactly the fashion of politicians and celebrities of all kinds, because it can be seen on them that the fashion does not mean anything to them. The costume, or that is the folk clothing, is a statement of something. Just like when you put on a sports outfit, people know you're going to play volleyball or swim, so when you put on a costume, you're going to represent and I'm not making a joke out of it. This hurts me completely, it really hurts me.“
(2) 1:58:30 - 1:59:53 - Zuzana condemns the abuse of folk culture by politicians
I find it undignified to make a costume a fashion fad. But there are situations even in the modern world when we can wear a costume with dignity and respect
Zuzana Tajek Piešová was born on December 12, 1964 in Bratislava to Imrich Pieš and Angela, née Bôbiková, and has a younger brother Juraj. Both parents came from the village of Čičmany. Zuzana’s maternal grandmother instilled in Zuzana an interest in authentic folklore. She grew up in Bratislava, she was a member of several folklore groups. After finishing high school, she wanted to study ethnography at university, but her parents came from peasant families and were not in the party, so they did not accept her. During foreign tours with folklore groups, she experienced political surveillance. She got a job at the railway in the documentation department and managed to travel all over Slovakia. During her travels, she researched costumes, idioms and authentic folklore. She collected and saved several hundred costumes and costume parts. She welcomed the fall of the communist regime, but did not agree with the division of the republic. She later worked in the fledgling advertising industry where she gained a wealth of knowledge and skills in copyright and image preservation. She founded the digital photo bank Tajek Gallery, where she collects authentic patterns of costumes from Slovakia, and manages the advice center Slovenský folklór bez fajku on social networks, where she focuses on exposing foreign elements that, thanks to incompetence, reach Slovakia in the form of a lot of advertising items and political posters. It points to the misuse of folklore for commercial and political purposes.
