The Symposium begins on Fri., Jan. 15, 1999, at 5 p.m. with a cocktail reception, buffet, tour of the exhibit led by Helene Cincebeaux and a Slovak folk dance performance and folk dress display by Don and Jeanette Pafko and several other dancers from their Minnesota Dance Group titled "A Presentation of Slovak Dance." If anyone needs hotel accomodations there is one hotel nearby where a special rate has been arranged.

The Saturday Jan. 16, 1999, session begins at 8:45 a.m. and runs thru the day including all the sessions listed below and a box lunch ending with a grand parade of folk dress, it's hoped that there will be more than 60 participants in the finale.

The program includes:

George Terbrack, - Origins of the Slavs & early history of the Slovaks

Rev. John Zec, - Slovak Ethnomusicology

Mary B. Kelly," Blessing, Protection & Fertility: Ritual and Ritual Cloths in 19th Century Czech/Slovak Lands"

Helene Cincebeaux, "Wedding Customs in Slovakia and Moravia"

Danielle Lamann, "Devin Folk Dance Group"

Elnora Rusnak,"Cultural Aspects of the Byzantine Rite in Eastern Europe"

Marilyn Brown, Silesian Goral Folk Art

Alexsi Currier,"The World of Ritual Towels in Orthodox Eastern Europe"

Joyce Corbett, "The Hungarian Village Room"

Vilma Matchette, "Placement of Decorative Elements on Folk Garments, an Exploration of Theory"

Sharon Sharpe,"Albanian Costumes and Textiles

Carmen Langel, "Preservation of Czech Culture Through Community Organizations"

Harry Senn, "Romanian Folk Tales and Myths"

Robert Cerello, "The Musical Transformation from Hungary to Hollywood" - Light from the "Dark Side

Tom Hrncirik, ""Religious History of the Czech Crown and Its Effects on Genealogical Records"

Richard Duree,"Hungarian and Transylvanian Dances

The event grand finale will be a "Folk Dress Parade" featuring some 60 authentic folk dress outfits from the countries of former Eastern Europe.

For more information on the Symposium, contact Joyce Corbett, curator of the exhibit, and a member of the Ethnic Textile Council of San Diego, co- sponsoring the Symposium with the Museum. Write to her at PO Box 34052, San Diego CA 92163 or e-mail cerellor@worldnet.att.net. Or Helene Cincebeaux at helenezx@aol.com. There is a 2 day conference fee and also a one day fee plus a special rate for spouses and people accompanying.

The Mingei International Museum is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1439 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101. Phone 619 239-0003 or fax 619 239-0605. Museum hours are Tues. through Sun. from 10 am - 4 pm; closed on Mondays and national holidays.

Another special event is being organized for Sunday Jan. 17, 1999 - not part of the conference but featuring the Minnesota dance group - which will be held at a Byzantine Church near Los Angeles and it's open to the public.

The folk dance event will be held at the Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church at 319 North Harbor Blvd. in Anaheim, California (just a few miles north of Disneyland on Harbor Blvd.). It will start after the Sunday Liturgy. The Liturgy starts at 10 A.M. In the St. Catherine's Military School Chapel on the Northwest corner of Lincoln and Harbor, close to the Byzantine Mission. The folk dancing will be held in the adjacent hall and should start about 11:30 A.M. on Sunday, January 17th. Contact Don Knapp at Donk6@aol.com for further information and directions if you are interested.

Helene was very kind to offer to put this event on for our parish and for all those interested in Slovak culture who are able to attend. It will be an informal show with dancers in folk costumes and perhaps a short talk by Helene. It should be less than an hour long. (We are still making plans.) There is no charge and anyone wishing to attend is welcome to both the Liturgy and the show. Helene's Symposium in San Diego sounds terrific and if you are able, you should try to attend. If you cannot make it to the symposium, you are welcome to the abbreviated show at our church on the next day - or, better yet, you can go to both!

The opening of Dowry: Bridal Treasures of Slovakia, Moravia and Bohemia took place on Fri., Nov. 20, 1998, from 5 - 7 p.m. at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.

The opening's invitation arrived with a gorgeous embroidered bed cloth blooming on it. I Iike to imagine the woman who made it smiling down from heaven on her cloth which has now become a star and will be admired by countless people. Wonder if she ever dreamed of that as she stitched away on dark evenings by the light of a flickering petroleum lamp some 80 years ago. Making something beautiful for her wedding day! It certainly endured - just like the strong people that were our immigrant ancestors.

The exhibit from the Baine/Cincebeaux Folk Dress Collection showcases antique wedding finery from Bohemian, Moravian and Slovak villages dating around the turn of the century. Helen Zemek Baine and her daughter Helene Baine Cincebeaux collected the hand-made treasures during 30 years of travel and research in over 2,000 villages there.

The exhibit features elaborate wedding headdresses, embroidered treasures from wedding aprons to men's shirts, ritual wedding shawls and decorated bed covers, even decorated wedding shoes.

There are woven pieces, beaded treasures, silver and gold thread embroideries, and many of the articles are decorated with elaborate bobbin lace. Each piece was made with love. Many are signed or dated with dates and initials or actual names. The folk dress will be displayed along with painted chests and beds from the region.

Slovakia was in the spotlight at the Nov. 20th opening of the Dowry Show at the Mingei International Museum, in San Diego CA. It was such a festive and happy event and some 500 people came (usually the crowd numbers around 300.) Over 50 people were in folk dress, mainly from Slovakia but also from China, Tunisia, Moravia, Russia, etc. The San Diego Czech and Slovak group made hundreds of festive sandwiches for the opening and a super folk band "Carpathian Connections" played all our favorite folk tunes including Cervena Jablcko.

Guess who came dressed in the loveliest Slovak finery - Dave Yencso and his beautiful Slovak bride, some of you recall him from about a year ago on Slovak World and many of us met the happy couple at Detva Folk Festival last year. Loved having SW members Fred and Terry Corbett there - she had on a wonderful white wool felted coat from Saris and he wore a Slovak wedding shirt. There were so many people there and if I missed other SW's please speak up.

The exhibit will be up through April 30 - it's quite a lovely display of dowry and wedding folk dress from all parts of Slovakia. The main island features six figures in Slovak folk dress - the bride is from Trebatice near Piestany in old Nitra County in western Slovakia with beautifully embroidered red and yellow sleeves and a beaded, sparkling wedding headdress. The groom hails from Dobra Niva near Zvolen in central Slovakia with his dashing felted, embroidered coat, wide leather belt and wedding staff topped with a bright red printed cloth and flowers.

The godmother is dressed in an elegant polished cotton outfit decorated with macrame and sequins from Podluzany (old Tekov County in southern Slovakia) and the "druzba" or older master of ceremonies is from Petrovce near Michalovce (old Zemplmn County in eastern Slovakia) and wears an embroidered shirt, decorated felt hat and the distinctive red and white woven shawl over his shoulder that is often seen at Rusyn weddings in this region.

A child is among the wedding guests dressed in the elegant embroidered and finely pleated Cicmany kroje from Trencin county in western Slovakia. Her outfit is decorated with ancient symbols. A bridesmaid from eastern Slovakia wears folk dress from a village near Levoca in old Spis County with the beautiful linen blouse, blue printed apron with different designs on either side and skirt pleated with hot loaves of bread.

A wonderful array of wedding headdresses, bonnets and caps greets visitors with embroidery and beaded confections and two especially spectacular ones - a beaded, flowered and mirror decorated headdress from Vazec in old Liptov County and a be-ribboned one with points projecting on each side from Vel'ky Lom in old Novohrad County.

The exhibit also includes a number of embroidered and woven bed covers and bed hangings ranging from villages in southwestern Slovakia (old Bratislava County) and central Slovakia - Helpa in Gemer County to those in eastern Slovakia from Jakubany in old Spis to villages near Kosice in Abov and Saris County.

Men's embroidered wedding shirts from Zavadka Gemer and Podolie Nitra are on display, along with a woman's wedding vest from Kosice. Two stars of the show are a woman's wedding coat, a full length appliqued sheepskin coat from Trnava dating from the turn of the century, and a lovingly embroidered wedding apron from Trenc~ianska Tepla in bright orange hues from the 1920s.

The exhibit features Slovak, Moravian and Bohemian textiles and folk dress from the Baine/Cincebeaux Collection and painted furniture from the Pearson Collection. A book on the exhibit is in preparation and will feature many of the items on display along with a description of the customs and traditions.

A Symposium celebrating Eastern European Folk Art, Folk Culture and Folk Ritual is scheduled for January 15 - 17, 1999 at the Mingei Museum in conjunction with the exhibit.

Papers are invited on the topics of folk arts and handicrafts, costumes and textiles, architecture and interiors, myth and ritual, folklore and family history.

The exhibit is a tribute to all the village men and women who created such beauty under difficult circumstances. The Symposium celebrates their customs, rituals and lives.

The Mingei Museum is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1439 El Prado, San Diego 92101. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., closed on Monday and national holidays. The Museum telephone number is 619 239-0003 and fax number is 619 239-0605.

For further information call Helene Cincebeaux at 716 342-9383, e mail helenezx@aol.com or write 151 Colebrook Drive, Rochester NY 14617.

Helene is editor of Slovakia, A Slovak Heritage Newsletter and publisher of the Slovak Pride Database.