Pop-art pioneer and provocateur Andy Warhol (1928–87) would perhaps have wryly approved of Slovakia's peculiar museum in his name. The neon-splashed gallery dominates the otherwise dreary eastern town of Medzilaborce, where Warhol's parents grew up. Photographs and newspaper clippings detail the lives of the Warhols, but the art is much more interesting. Alongside Warhol originals are temporary exhibitions of present-day artists as well as Warhol's contemporaries. The museum's opening in 1991 was controversial; today it makes an entertaining detour.
The museum's journey from inception to grand opening was difficult, partly because of the perception in 1980s Slovakia that pop art was frivolous and undesirable. The project was beset by obstacles from lapsed construction deadlines to scepticism about the museum's setting (after all, Warhol never set foot here) though it has since found favour with locals and visiting art fans.
It isn't much fun getting marooned in Medzilaborce, an uninspiring spot aside from the museum, so we highly recommend private transport. Bus routes from Bardejov or Košice require one or more changes. Train travel from Košice, transferring in Humenné, is marginally less painful (€6.80, 2¾ hours, five daily).
