Naše kulturno bogastvo - Razvojni center Srca Slovenije

Carving of woodenchristmas cribsFor a century carving of Christmascribs has been one of the characteristicsof Mengeš and its nearbysurroundings. It was highly appreciatedin the 19th century andsoon developed into a profitablehandicraft activity which was takenup by many a craftsman. At first,trila figurines were made accordingto the old models made from plasterand worked with this material forseveral years. Eventually the carverstried to work with wood. The firstexhibition of Christmas cribs afterWorld War II contributed considerablyto the identification of the cribsfrom Mengeš and of the carvers.It was held in 1972 in Mengeš andwas put in place by the parish priestŠtefan Babič.Another exhibition of Christmas cribswas organized in Mengeš in 1995 whenthe endeavours of the societies, activeindividuals and some experts calledthe attention again to the remarkablecarving skill. Twenty-four carvers tookpart in that exhibition, among whichvery industrious Miha Skok and MilanKosec who today are the only persons inMengeš preserving the skill and craft ofcarving Christmas cribs.Milan Kosec, born in 1936, and his wifeRozi, born in 1937, have been spendingtheir free time carving Christmaswooden cribs. In his childhood Milanwas encouraged by his uncle who wasthen an active carver. When Milan wasfourteen he started going to his uncle’sworkshop after school. The mastersof the craft of carving cribs socialisedand created there. He watched themat work and soon tried himself, at firstwith a kitchen knife. Since then he hasbeen spending all his time carving, evenmore so after he retired. Before too longhis wife Rozi joined him. Milan told usthat one day he had given her a chunkof wood and said to her: “Try it yourselfso that you will not just watch and comment!”This is how her first carved sheepslowly came into being.The basic material for making woodencribs is the wood of a linden tree. It isthe softest wood there is, flexible andconsequently suitable for carving. Milanbuys wood from local people who havetrees in the surrounding forests. To carvethey need: a bandsaw, chisels, a vice,a hammer and a carving knife. Milanand his wife work in their kitchen atthe table where he has organized hisartistic work place. He carves cribs allthe year around and devotes all his freetime to them. He likes to be precise inhis work, he loves quality; yet, the timerequired for one figurine depends onhow demanding the figurine is. Sheepcan be carved much faster than a figurineof a shepherd which takes him upto a month to carve. After the figurinehas been carved, Milan has to apply acoating on it. Bee wax used to be verypopular but dust adheres to it too much:this is why today mainly water-solubleopaque varnish is used. Since it takesa lot of time to carve the cribs, Milandoes not make them for the market butmainly for himself, his family and closefriends. Years ago he exhibited his cribsquite often at fairs and events throughoutSlovenia. Today he only goes tothe fairs in the surrounding villages toexhibit his cribs.For over ten years Milan Kosec has beenan active member of the Tourist Societycalled Kanja Trzin which has a specialcarving section. The Society organizescarving workshops where Milanhas taught his carving skills to quite afew. When he obtained the certificate onthe national vocational qualification heofficially became a carver. If one wantsto get the title of a professional carver,theory alone does not suffice. One hasto make a woodcut, shallow and deepreliefs and sculptures.57