Handwork in Yugoslavia.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1933, Page 16 (Supplement)

Handwork in Yugoslavia.

It was not so very long ago that a struggle which had lasted several hundred years was brought to an end and a number of small states or districts were united into one kingdom known to-day as Yugoslavia. It is a kingdom of beauty, with its sunny Adriatic coast, rugged snow-capped mountains, and swift rivers which flow through deep ravines hemmed in by pine-covered slopes (says a correspondent). The people of this newly-formed counti. preserve their age-old traditions and speak the old language. Life in the bigger district is the urban life of most progressive countries, but in agricultural and mountain districts is is little altered from that of a century ago. Before the war every peasant wore garments reminiscent of medieval splendour in their quaint and beautiful colour schemes. Every woman was mistress of the various processes necessary for the production of clothes, from the preparation of the raw flax or the wool from the sheep's back. After the war, however, difficulty arose in obtaining raw material, and the competition of machine-made goods endangered the artistic and exquisite handwork which has been the pride of the peasants of Yugoslavia for many hundreds of years. But now there are signs of a revival and it is possible to obtain from Yugoslavia hand-embroidered jumpers, children’s clothes, luncheon sets, tea cloths, leather coats and bags, besides numerous small and attractive things suitable for presents. The designs are copied by the peasants from old originals collected from, all E>arts of Yugoslavia. \