Organizing in Culture between Burnout and Strike
Presentation & Discussion at tranzit sk
◆︎ "Let the arts perish if necessary! But let us have real equality." ◆︎
Organizing in Culture between Burnout and Strike
◆︎ Talks by: Eliška Mazalanová, Ivana Rumanová ◆︎
/ 10. 04. 2025 / 19:00 / @tranzitsk / Beskydská 12, Bratislava /
On May 1, 2024, Kultúrne odbory (the Cultural Unions) was established. On September 5, 2024, a strike alert for workers in the arts, culture, and creative industries was declared in Bratislava. A strike, which is legislatively defined as a partial or complete interruption of work, has its own specifics in culture. If we do not go to work, we do not cause any significant economic damage to the other party, and our systemic power is minimal compared to that of other professions. Similarly, in the case of protests, it is more about exercising democratic principles and the will of the people, which Prime Minister Fico has repeatedly stated is a constitutional civil right that will not be infringed upon; but he will not let the street decide on his policy.
So, what should we think about strikes, protests, and collective actions in the arts and culture if they are not to be anything more than romantic gestures of helpless defiance? What should their goal be and when can they be considered successful? Can we even agree on this? How will the understanding of art and culture change if artists identify themselves more as cultural workers rather than artists? What can initiatives such as cultural unions do to improve the working conditions and social status of those working in the arts, and to actively disrupt the exploitative model of functioning that maintains structural inequalities? Using historical examples of strikes, collective actions, and organizing in culture, we want to consider whether they can be tools for challenging the supposed “purity” of art and becoming aware of our own complicity in the reproduction of social inequalities.
◆︎Eliška Mazalanová is an art historian and curator. She received her PhD from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague and is a co-founder and vice-chair of Kultúrne odbory (the Cultural Unions), which was established in May 2024. She focuses on topics such as socially and environmentally engaged art, collaborative practice, as well as the internal settings of the art world and art operations, especially with regard to working conditions, precarity, equal opportunities, and related forms of the collective association and unionization of cultural workers. She also cooperates with tranzit sk.
◆︎Ivana Rumanová is a cultural critic, cultural worker, and anthropologist. She studied cultural anthropology at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague and the Cultural Projects in Public Space program at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She has never left this interface between social sciences and art, while feeling deep enthusiasm and sincere skepticism towards both fields. She has served as curator at the New Synagogue Žilina, and on the editorial boards of the magazines Kapitál and 3/4. She is a member of the Otvorená kultúra! (Open Culture!) platform, chair of Kultúrne odbory (the Cultural Unions) and a member of the Kultúrny štrajk (Cultural Strike) committee. In 2023, she received the Věra Jirousová Award for her contributions to the field of art criticism.
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Event initiated by tranzit sk and organized in collaboration with OK!.
ERSTE Foundation is main partner of tranzit.
Media partners:
Artalk.info, Flash Art CZ & SK, Kapitál, GoOut.net
