The Centre of Traditional Technologies in Příbor is a branch of the large regional Museum of the Nový Jičín Region. It is a specialised institute focusing on historical handicraft closely tied to the rural environment. It mostly displays the outcome of research, supported by experimental verification and experimental reconstructions.
The research of the Centre of Traditional Technologies focuses mainly on the rural area of the Western Carpathians. The mountain environment of the Western Carpathians was a harsh environment where human survival was made possible thanks to the use of very primitive technologies for processing natural materials. Such primitive technologies demonstrate human adaptability, taking us not only into the world of traditional folk culture, but also to the prehistorical period and times of various existential crises.
Besides creating space for learning and finding inspiration in the experience of our ancestors, the Centre of Traditional Technologies is also an ideal refuge from modern technologies. There is absolutely no digital element, no virtual or advanced reality in the exhibitions.
Experiments play a very important role in CETRAT. These are laboratory-type activities. In our case, the laboratory is a handicraft workshop. In it are materialised hypotheses formulated on the basis of comprehensive research. This museum workshop is not an operation where products are made as replicas or copies. It is a place of experimental learning, discovering the many principles associated with selected historical handicraft technology and material. Presentations at the workshop enable visitors to experience a comprehensive approach, in which nothing important is missing.
One of the core missions of our museum is the active preservation of technologies, replacing the old intergenerational transmission of technology that once existed. Presenting these primitive technologies for the processing of natural materials offers a huge source of inspiration in relation to the many problems that plague our contemporary society. People interested in historical material culture, but also people looking for new life values or new economic alternatives, can seek find the knowledge, answers, and inspiration they’re seeking at CETRAT.
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