About the Project

Slovakia is dotted with works of art in public spaces. Many of them commemorate wartime events and important historical figures.

After the First World War – often referred to as the “Great War” – monuments dedicated to fallen local residents began to appear across towns and villages on a large scale. This trend continued after the Second World War.

Traditional statues of saints, once a common feature of public spaces, were gradually joined by new commemorative and memorial works. Their themes reflected war and its horrors. At first, these were mostly smaller works created by folk artists. Over time, larger and more monumental memorials by renowned artists began to appear.

Among them were Ján Koniarek, Fraňo Štefunko, Jozef Kostka, and later especially Ladislav Snopek, Ján Kulich, Tibor Bártfay and others. These artists often collaborated with architects and urban planners.

As a result, these works went beyond the boundaries of conventional art objects. They became spatially complex, functional and highly symbolic.

Typical examples include Slavín in Bratislava, the SNP Memorial in Banská Bystrica, Dukla near Svidník, and the older Milan Rastislav Štefánik Memorial on Bradlo, designed by architect Dušan Jurkovič.

The latter can be seen as a prototype of monumental memorial architecture in Slovakia. These works combine artistic expression with architecture, urban planning and, often, the surrounding landscape itself.