Open-air museums are very popular in the Czech Republic now. Besides the permanent popularity of these institutions, they attract more and more criticism - not only from the professional public - for their today’s condition. Attention is paid mainly to the insufficient level of authenticity, which causes the public to be misinformed about historical reality. The degree of how the depicted facts are truthful constitutes the basic problem. Considerable danger also insists in hiding or non-admission of non-identical materials and
techniques. When using intended deceits, the open-air museums
as cultural and memory institutions can easilyl and in conflict with
museum ethics.
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In the 19th century, the town of Příbor and its environs was one of the regions with an extended crib making tradition. Towards the end of the 20th century, after a long pause, a brand new production of the cribs was started there. However, the craftsmen did not take up the previous tradition. Although several crib makers with their peculiar style work nowadays in Příbor and its environs, the
personality of Antonín Jařabáč is indispensable and dominant in
this respect. He was born in 1910 in a provincial milieu of the village of Klokočov near Příbor. The works of Antonín Jařabáč are chacterized especially by their handicraft values. Besides the figure and ornamental sculptures, it is possible to consider the crib making as a sort of peak of the carving self-fulfilment of Antonín Jařabáč. Even the other contemporary crib makers from Příbor take up the work of Antonín Jařabáč. Thus during a short period, there a specific group of people who may be designated, according to their territorial relevance, as the Příbor crib makers appeared handicraftsmen. However, Antonín Jařabáč remains for the local inhabitants the most significant representative of the present crib creators.
File making is a less known branch of smithery, the production of which can be divided into two basic typologically distinct groups - files and rasps. Handmaking of a range of files and rasps included a number of special operations, which led the metal processing sector into becoming a specialized and independent area. The fundamental task of file-making was to create a cutting edge on a prepared forged piece of a file or rasp item. The oldest method was
hand crafting which survived from ancient times until the 20th century in almost unchanged form. Independent areas with a strong concentration of file manufacturing were established thanks to some specific conditions. In the Svratka region, a significant part of archaic technologies referring deep into the past of file manufacturing all the way to the 1950s was preserved due to the prosperity of file making.
Equipment of file manufacturing handicraft workshops.
The traditional handicraft form of file manufacturing required the creation of aspecific workshop environment. The disposition breakdown of file workshops was not too complicated and it reminded of a smithery in many aspects. File making required highly specialized tools focused on forging and grinding of items, cutting of blades, annealing and tempering. With the narrow specialization, small home-based workshops were established in the Svratka region, in which craftsmen and home-based workmen attended to partial tasks. A strong professional layer of residents also brought the professional language of file makers to the countryside. It did not disappear until the second half of the 20th century. The traditional handicraft manufacturing in the Svratka region disappeared quickly in early 1950s. Hand crafting file makers either entirely ceased their activities or moved on to factories in Jihlava and Hlinsko.