I am yet not satisfied with myself and am working towards it
Tibor Oláh was born on May 30, 1952 in Detva (a small town near Zvolen, Slovakia). He lived with his family in a wooden cottage in the Roma settlement segregated from town, even though he does not have only Roma ancestors. He finished the elementary school in town and continued in his studies at the secondary machinery school as a wood-turner, which he did not finish. He became interested in painting already in the elementary school and he´s been an amateur painter up to now. In his 16, he began to work in the building industry; later his father secured a place for him in the ZŤS Detva metallurgy plant, where he worked as a wood-turner. After a while, he moved to the Czech Republic due to dissatisfaction with living conditions (in particular racism and discrimination), where he stayed with short breaks working at different mechanical positions for about 15 years. After his return from the Czech Republic, he found a job as a worker in the Inžinierske Stavby Košice company and moved to Rožňava in the Eastern Slovakia. Here, he contacted a local cultural centre and presented his paintings. The centre was first to organise him an art exhibition, which was successful. From that time, his works ware presented at various exhibitions, where he received many acknowledgement certificates and awards. His works are part of permanent exhibition in the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno and the Ethnography Museum in Martin. According to the curator of the Ethnography Museum in Martin, Tibor Oláh and his brother belong to the most significant amateur painters (from so called „Detva school“). Even now, he is committed to his ambitions and plans to further paint, exhibit and develop.