Marta Kopun Košuta of Kontovel near Trieste

Proposer: Ivan Grbec Cultural Society – Škedenj pri Trstu, Luisa Primossi Primožič

She graduated from the specialised needlework and lacemaking technical school. After teacher training school, she continued her studies of specialised education, and up until her retirement she worked in a Slovenian primary school. Despite a different kind of regular work, she continuously researched folk customs, beliefs and stories, and wrote them down. She also studied the special features of folk costume in the various places around the Trieste area, in the Slovenian Karst and Slovenian Istria, and learned how they were made. She enhanced her knowledge by studying literature and by participating in international expert courses, while she also continuously shared her knowledge with others, preferably in the Slovenian societies in the Trieste area.

Marta has also shared her knowledge through television documentaries and thematic broadcasts (some she designed and hosted herself), exhibitions, organising performances associated with ethno-cultural programmes, through printed publications (she has published three independent publications about folk costume), in thematic publications and also at traditional public events (such as the Kraška ohcet folk wedding). Today she still works as a mentor in Slovenian societies and certain study circles, and she gives classes in tailoring and garment making. Her educational work is especially valued among the Slovenians living outside the country in the Trieste area, since her activities are strengthening national consciousness, reinforcing self-image and stimulating the desire to identify with one's own roots, which is motivating people towards lifelong learning in this area. At the same time she is also focused on the inclusion of people with special needs in life. In this way she demonstrates her expertise, her openness to people and dedication to lifelong learning.