KOVACICA, Serbia (AP) 鈥� Nearly a century ago, two farmers in an ethnic Slovak village in northern Serbia started painting to pass the time during the long winter months. This week, their art is being inscribed on .
The farmers' of Kovacica are what is known as na茂ve art 鈥� a form that depicts everyday scenes, landscapes, village life and farm surroundings with a childlike simplicity.
With their bright colors and folk motives, the self-taught na茂ve painters of Kovacica, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Belgrade, Serbia's capital, have developed a unique tradition among the country's ethnic Slovak minority.
鈥淣a茂ve art in Kovacica began in 1939 when Martin Paluska and Jan Sokol started painting,鈥� explained Ana Zolnaj Barca, the head of the Gallery of Na茂ve Art in the village. 鈥淭hey were farmers with only four grades of elementary school.鈥�
Paluska and Sokol initially painted scenes they saw on postcards, such as Venetian gondolas or wild animals, explained Zolnaj Barca. But their art really bloomed over time, when they turned to their own surroundings rather than far-away lands, she said.
The village's na茂ve art gallery, established in 1955, now holds the works of nearly 50 recognized artists and hosts some 20,000 visitors each year.
Among its most famous artists is Zuzana Chalupova, who often painted children and whose work was featured on millions of UNICEF postcards. Another Kovacica artist, Martin Jonas, depicted farmers with oversized hands and feet but small heads 鈥� meant to symbolize their hard-working life.
And though the Kovacica style of na茂ve paintings originated in the village, it has since spread far beyond the area.
鈥淎n identifying factor, the practice is a means of transmitting the cultural heritage and history of the Slovak community in Serbia,鈥� UNESCO said in its citation.
Serbia鈥檚 government said Tuesday that the UNESCO decision to inscribe Kovacica's na茂ve paintings confirms the Balkan nation鈥檚 鈥減romotion of cultural diversity.鈥�
For gallerist and expert Pavel Babka, na茂ve art represents a treasure chest of traditional ways and customs 鈥� he points to a painting in his gallery showing a girl in traditional Slovak multi-layered skirt being sent off to church alone for the first time.
Another painting in Babka's gallery features a horse-drawn cart and a yellow house dating back to Austro-Hungarian times, testifying of the long presence of the ethnic Slovak community in what is today Serbia.
Contemporary na茂ve artists, Babka said, often also seek inspiration in the tales of the past and 鈥渨ould rather paint a horse than a tractor.鈥�
Artist Stefan Varga, 65, agrees. He said he paints images based on the 鈥渟tories my grandmother told me from when she was a little girl."
Those times weren't easy but they were 鈥渟imple and beautiful,鈥� he said.
Varga鈥檚 paintings feature cheerful, red-cheeked villagers in traditional clothes, bright colors, farm animals and huge pumpkins. The main characteristics of na茂ve painting are 鈥渏oy and purity, the purity of heart and colors," he said.
鈥淣a茂ve painters usually use simple colors,鈥� said Varga. They 鈥渦se the simplest way to say what they want to say so everybody can understand them, whether they are Chinese, Japanese, English or Serb.鈥�
Jovana Gec, The Associated Press
