Let Goodness Fall Like Snow
Also this year’s Christmas and New Year’s greetings were drawn for the Visegrad Fund by the exceptional Hento Toto team. We are thrilled with their idea and we are proud to share it with all our friends, partners, grantees and supporters, wishing you well-being, kindness and joy and let goodness fall like snow!
Hento Toto is the only brand of its kind in Slovakia based on the principle of Collaborative Art, where artists with mental disabilities work together with professionals and creatives from various fields. They have been covered by the civil association Bol raz jeden človek since 2006.
The Hento Toto team brings the drawings to life by applying them to various products and offering them to the public. They regularly participate in important markets and they sell their drawings in many good stores in Slovakia and Czechia.
The success of the Hento Toto brand is not just the result of the efforts of a few enthusiasts, but the cooperation of graphic artists, designers, shop owners, event organizers, suppliers, foundations, socially responsible companies, kind and supportive customers and, last but not least, parents of artists.
“Co-founder Helena Kusá emphasizes: “People with mental disabilities, for whom we create activities and with whom we work, are our friends and colleagues. We do not emphasize the mental handicap of our draftsmen. We are proud of them, and we are very pleased that people buy the products because they are of good quality and they like it. From the beginning, we want nothing more than to show that our friends are clever and sincerely want to please others.”
The story of Hento Toto did not start with wanting to establish a design brand. The founders – while studying medical and special pedagogy – were fond of people with mental disabilities and decided to help them. Therefore in 2006 they founded the civic association Bol raz jeden človek. The association wanted to offer something that would develop people with mental disabilities, they could meet new people and make them proud of themselves. And that’s how Rojko TV was first created, in which they filmed documentaries together, took photos, and made animated spots. Then it was the folklore group Harmatanec, in which they made the audience happy with their dances at various events. They also worked as waiters, made coffees and did catering at various events.
They only started thinking about the name when they were preparing for the first market in the old Cvernovka. At that time, they often used the phrase “hento toto” among themselves. They liked it very much and the name was born. Trying many art techniques, inviting different artists to workshops in order to discover an art technique that would please them and at the same time be interesting for others their first product was Christmas cards, then T-shirts, notebooks and finally badges. Later, bags, sweatshirts, place cards, stickers and brooches. The beginnings were connected with Pal Čejko, who taught them linocut – a technique that was immediately a challenge and a clear choice, and they devoted themselves to it intensively for several years.
The founding of the HENTO TOTO brand was therefore a natural outcome of the drawing effort. They have been drawing since the beginning of existence. First in the form of an art club, later therapeutically within the day center, finally focused on the animation and graphics club. The drawing gradually developed in the team. They realized very early what they value in their team’s drawings (how their trustees drawing develops, how they learn new techniques, how they grow in self-confidence, how they enjoy doing something together, how they learn to communicate with each other and be interested in each other) other people can’t see, but they can enjoy the cheerful original pictures.
The brand is registered as a social enterprise and HENTO TOTO is their job. They work as a creative graphic studio. And since they also work to order, they are happy for any meaningful cooperation. This is also why the Visegrad Fund repeatedly offered them cooperation.