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Longterm exhibition
Nitra
The Christian faith is an integral part of Slovak culture for decades. It creates an unmistakable mosaic full of humility, spirituality, but also simplicity and warm devotion.
The aim of this exhibition is to introduce the spiritual world of a rural person of the Roman Catholic faith at the end of the 19th century, with implications to the following century, and its manifestations in both public and private worship.
The Virgin Mary and the Marian cult, which was strongly rooted in folk traditions, played a significant role. This phenomenon united people in Central Europe across periods from the Middle Ages through the Reformation to the 18th and 19th centuries.
Since the late Middle Ages, small sacred objects have also been created as a reminder of important events – both joyful and tragic. They expressed gratitude and requests for protection, and many, especially those associated with wars, are still carrying a strong message nowadays.
The exhibition Pray for us… introduces villages in the Drevenice river basin: Kostoľany pod Tribečom, Ladice, Neverice, Beladice (including Pustý Chotár, Veľké Chrašťany, and Malé Chrašťany), Nová Ves nad Žitavou, and Slepčany.
It is published in the form of a museum presentation and offers a selection from the ethnographic collection of the Museum of Nitra region in Nitra. It presents objects associated with folk religion, personal piety, and religious life.
Visitors will see the folk sacred sculptures, glass paintings (for example glass painting by Alexander Salzmann), devotionals, as well as objects and photographs from private collections. The exhibition also maps small-scale sacred architecture of the region.
It also includes stories, historical facts, customs, and memories of local residents, including authentic audio recordings.
The exhibition connects individual topics and places them in a broader cultural context. It was created in cooperation with the aforementioned municipalities in the Drevenice basin.
