Prevádzkujú múzeum ceruziek, malé múzeum fotoaparátov, rómsku galériu, z miestnej školy k ním chodia deti na hodiny výtvarnej výchovy a pomáhajú Rómom integrovať sa do spoločnosti.
Rómovia v Drienovci tvoria necelú polovicu z populácie obce, časť z nich žije v obci, problémová komunity v osade za ňou.
Dvojtisícová obec sa pred takmer dvomi rokmi zviditeľnila rozsiahlou policajnou raziou.
V Drienovci zadržali dvoch mužov, ktorí mali na policajtov zaútočiť sekerou, súd tomu neuveril.
V neďalekej Moldave nad Bodvou zase uskutočnili zásah, ktorý vyvolal veľký ohlas a dodnes ho rieši Generálna prokuratúra.
Päťmetrová ceruzka, staré poľské filmové plagáty, farebné stoličky vyrobené z odpadu. To všetko privíta návštevníkov a najmä deti hneď po príchode na Artfarmu.
„Tak bláznivý priestor, ako je u nás, to sa tak ľahko nevidí,“ žartuje o svojom príbytku Jana Zitová a dodáva: „Máme tu vypracovaný systém, otvoríte bránu a dostanete sa do iného sveta.“
„Hľadali sme dom mimo mesta, kde by sme mohli tvoriť podľa našich predstáv, dostatočne veľký sme našli v Drienovci,“ spomína si Vološkin na prisťahovanie sa do obce pred vyše dvanástimi rokmi.
Charizmatický manželský pár vychádza s Rómami paradoxne lepšie ako s miestnym obyvateľstvom. Najväčší rozruch spôsobili pred niekoľkými rokmi, kedy postavili tabuľu s kriedou v centre obce.
Rómovia sa pri nej združovali, zabávali sa, miestni sa zase sťažovali na hluk.
Napokon si tabuľu preniesli naspäť do dvora, kde slúži pre deti, ktoré si chcú pri odchode niečo nakresliť.
„Ešte chvíľu,“ zakričí malý rómsky chlapec v okuliaroch na mamu pri tabuli, bielou kriedou nakreslí športové auto, zapózuje na fotografiu a uteká za rodinou na ulicu.
Keď rómski rodičia videli, že ich deti si môžu vo dvore bez obmedzení kresliť, sami začali pomáhať s údržbou netradičnej umeleckej farmy.
„Mali sme jedného, ktorý sa chodil už o ôsmej ráno pýtať, čo by mohol urobiť,“ odmieta Vološin, že by Rómovia nechceli pracovať, pomohli aj aktivačné práce.
Dávku v hmotnej núdzi si k ním chodia odpracovať i Rómovia zo spomínanej osady Budulovská v Moldave nad Bodvou.
Nie vždy ale riešia iba úsmevné a priateľské situácie, umením často zjemňujú tvrdú realitu žitia v chudobe niektorých rodín.
Vološin nám opisuje príbeh rómskeho chlapca, ktorý spáva iba na slame a k ním si chodí pomáhať, aby mal, čo jesť. Otec sa mu obesil, matka podľahla alkoholu.
Zo začiatku sa stalo, že im niečo zmizlo, naučili sa to ale riešiť spoločným dohovorom.
„Raz mi zmizol fotoaparát, tak som išiel do osady a o niekoľko hodín mi ho Rómovia prišli vrátiť.“
Podobnú skúsenosť mali aj, keď ich prišiel navštíviť syn s rodinou.
„Zaparkovali auto pri škole, potom sme našli iba rozbité sklo a chýbala detská autosedačka,“ spomína si fotograf. Večer im miestni Rómovia zabúchali na bránu aj so zmiznutou autosedačkou. Našli ju až v Moldave.
Do dvora už deväť rokov chodí so svojimi deťmi aj päťdesiatnička Ivana. Zitkovú teší, že Artfarmu si Rómovia obľúbili, tri dcéry Ivany tam chodia aj so svojimi malými deťmi.
„Zvykli sme si, je to lepšie, akoby sedeli boli doma alebo chodili hore do osady,“ hovorí Ivana hanblivým hlasom.
Veľkým problémom tamojších detí z osád je slovenčina. Väčšina z nich hovorí iba rómčinou alebo maďarčinou.
Po dvore sú preto rozmiestnené aj krátke opisy jednotlivých umeleckých smerov a profily umelcov v slovenskom jazyku. Deti sa tak hravou formou učia aj jazyk, učiteľky z miestnej školy tam chodia so žiakmi na hodiny výtvarnej výchovy.[:en]Jana Zitová and photographer Vladimír Vološin are a couple who has been operating their unconventional artistic farm for twelve years in Drienovec near Košice.
They help Roma with their integration into society, they operate museum of pencils, a small museum of cameras, a Roma gallery and last but not least, local school children come to their centre for fine arts classes.
Roma represent little less than one half of Drienovec population, while part of them live inside the village and problematic community lives in the settlement on the outskirts.
It was about two years ago when the village with almost 2 thous. inhabitants gained popularity thanks to police raid.
Two men were arrested in Drienovec for allegedly attacking police with axes; the courts did not believe it.
In the near Moldava nad Bodvou, another police intervention stirred public interest and General Prosecution has been dealing with the case to date.
Five-meter long pencil, old Polish movie posters, colourful chairs made from waste. Those are several articles welcoming visitors, namely children once they enter the Artfarm.
„It is hard to find another crazy space like this,“ muses Jana Zitová about her home and adds: „We have elaborated a system where you open the gate and you end up in a different world.“
„We have sought a house outside the town where we could be as creative as we wish and we found sufficient size in Drienovec,“ Mr. Vološin talks about his reminiscence from moving into the village twelve years ago.
Charismatic pair is paradoxically getting along with Roma better than with non-Roma locals. They caused havoc some years ago when they installed a a blackboard with and a chalk in the village centre.
Roma started gathering by it and having fun, while others started to complain.
Finally, they brought the board back to their yard, where it serves to children who wish to draw something as they leave.
„One moment, please,“ a small Roma boy in glasses shouts at her mum near the blackboard; as he draws a sports car with a white chalk, he poses for photography and then runs after his family to the street.
When Roma parents saw that their children can freely draw in the yard, they started to help out with maintenance of this unusual farm on their own accord.
„We used to have one guy, who would come at eight in the morning asking what he could do,“ says Vološin and refuses to admit that Roma are not willing to work; activation works helped a lot, too.
Roma from abovementioned Budulovská settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou come to work here in order to receive their benefits in material distress, too.
However, this family is not always involved in friendly and humorous situations, for some poor families, their arts comes often as a softener to tough reality of living in poverty.
Vološin describes a story of one Roma boy who sleeps on a straw and comes to their house to have something to eat. His father hanged himself and mother is an alcoholic.
From the start, some things disappeared, but they learned to deal with it via joint consent.
„Once my camera vanished, so I went to the settlement and some hours later, some Roma came to return it themselves.“
They had a similar experience when their son with family came to visit.
„They parked their car near the school and later they found a broken glass and missing child seat,“ a photographer remembers. Once again, Roma knocked on their door at night and came with the missing child seat. They found it in Moldava.
A fifty-year old woman named Ivana has been visiting the farm for nine years. Zitková is happy that Roma like the Artfarm; Ivana’s three daughters often visit together with their small children.
„We got used to it, it is better than sitting at home or going to the settlement,“ says Ivana with ashamed voice.
Slovak language causes much trouble to local children. Many of them speak either Hungarian or Roma language.
Thus, in the courtyard, there are short descriptions of individual artistic fields and profiles of artists in Slovak language. This way, children learn the language playfully and teachers from local school come to visit their fine arts classes with pupils.
Rudolf Sivý
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