Tradition painted on the walls of Čičmany, Slovakia

The ornamental decorations on these Slovakian log homes are painted with lime. The tradition, dating back 200 years, is inspired by the local embroidery. The Čičmany villagers, who recently celebrated their 740th anniversary, have a strong folk heritage with traditional costumes, dance and music. Every year the village hosts a festival of traditional music, dance and crafts.

One of the instruments that features high in the repertoire of music is the fujara flute. The fujara is an overtone flute 4ft (122cm) to 7ft (213cm) long unique to Slovakia. Traditionally it is made completely by hand from seasoned elder, maple or locust tree using a tool called an auger (nebožiece) to drill out the core of the flute and a draw knife to debark and shape the stem. Below (centre and right) Drahoš Daloš makes and plays the Fujara flute (see video right). The video left Ivan Medžo gives a beautiful performance of fujara music and singing beside the house pictured above at the 2013 Čičmany festival .

Anton Kudjak, fujara player & daughter