CULTURAL OXYGEN 3/2017

Editorial / Magda Vášáryová

The Image of Slovakia Drawn by Our Culture / Zuzana Mistríková The Pink Elephant: Hooray, we have won! / ICP Interview with Director of the Orava Gallery, Eva Ľuptáková / Magda Vášáryová Cultural institutions in Slovakia - a relationship without love / Martin Katuščák Survey The Protection of Cultural Heritage and Its Importance for Cultural Communication in Slovakia / Miloš Dudáš Monitoring Dictionary

Editorial

Since their birth, our cultural institutions have not grown a beard too long. Cultural institutions managed by the State are a major achievement of the modern centralisation and the belief that the State is still the best art historian and patron. Many still do believe so. The fashion of establishing libraries, galleries, museums, philharmonics has swept the world not so long ago and we did not resist that too. Fashion is fashion. Since then, we have started seeing big building with lots of employees, strategic planning of the arts and financing from people's taxes as a normal part of the cultural life of every country, and even a great deal of prestige. Culture demands that, after all. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to ask the question in the context of Slovak cultural policy, what it was we did well and where we went wrong in laying the foundations of the national pride, what is to continue working like it has worked until now and what would be good a idea to change. However, we consider our cultural institutions a sacred symbol of the Slovak culture, and a critical view could help us not only to spend our money better, but also to contribute to the modernisation of our national cultural identity, which is the next urgent task if we want to become the "core" of the EU. Slovak overtone flutes or dancing girls in national costumes, who are always young, will not do to change what we think of ourselves. Of Slovaks as Europeans! The worst thing which can happen, and which we are witnessing today and every day, is when a gallery or a museum or another institution of culture becomes a sinecure of a person until the end of his or her life, because those positions are so scarce, or when their carefully selected directors become just ordinary little bureaucrats in the hands of a minister of culture. Two years ago we highlighted the fact at ICP that our cultural super-managers must bend down before a master politician and beg to go to Vienna, just right around the corner, to see some exhibitions. You can bet this has not changed until this day. And so we have prepared, for you to read in autumn, a few critical reflections on our cultural institutions, their structure, and their financing. This issue is full of facts, criticism, and contemplation. Because there is no thing sacred to us which is not in heaven!

Magda Vášáryová

Slovakia - an unknown creature, but an important neighbour

As long as the state at our borders was Czechoslovakia, at least the Slovaks were its unknown part to Austrians! The interesting thing is that many Austrians at the borders in the East had a natural knowledge of Bratislava (Pressburg, Pozsony) in that times. Bol to akýsi pocit susedstva z minulosti, pretože sme boli spojení Viedenskou električku a staršia generácia si zachovala akú- takú spomienku na Slovákov. Not only as farm workers who came from behind the Morava, but also in culture, known cabbage markets and, of course, for example, the sheep cheese and the like foods not known to us. Over time, however, the information that all of this is linked to Slovakia faded away. As a result, the cultural actions and significant domestic achievements in the field of culture and science, of which learned even from behind the iron curtain, were not associated with Slovaks. They had no inscription reading Slovakia. Of course, this image has changed a bit. Also because to the people in Vienna the Opera House in Bratislava is like a second home, or even an escape to normalcy, when they can no more watch and understand the innovative plays and directors' unusual concepts in Vienna. A great response was the one to the European Capital of Culture which was the city of Košice. Every Austrian who travelled by train to Slovakia passed through the central part of Slovakia, which offers fascinating testament of an ancient culture, and exceptional architecture. In particular, I was interested in the Gothic churches. This might have also been the Fuggers who left an unforgettable trace in the country. Unfortunately, we know too little of that in Vienna... And so, it has gotten better lately, because after some time there is a common cultural exchange not only in the area of culture and scientific research, but mainly in the economic field. Some relationships of the past have been restored naturally. For example, the shipping transport on the Danube between Vienna and Bratislava, running several times a day. Hopping on and visiting neighbours has become a must for every Viennese citizen. It is still not possible to say the two big cities will merge in the future, but there is a significant migration of the Slovak population moving slowly but surely and spreading away from the Austrian border to Vienna, and occupying the border villages. Probably the main problem is that moving towards each other is truly upon us, it may occur at any time, and does not need any special effort. I would say, however, that both Austrians and Slovakians will need to work more towards communicating with each other. So we get to know each other better. Slovakia has already got its autonomous face not overshadowed by Prague, it is an independent country with its own population and its own cultural development. To intensify this feeling is one of the tasks in the future, and the European Union has created a number of supporting tools which can help us. For example, the Schengen Agreement or the euro! Bratislava is in fact linked to the Danube River much more intensely than Vienna. The river has created and continues to create opportunities for cultural links, which we need to make more use of. We in Austria have to realise more what incredible possibilities have come to exist by the opening of borders and the political developments in our neighbours' country after 1989. This is not just about cities, we have also gained a lot from the quick-paced economic life, and the related social life among us. The free movement of labour and moving companies, banks, will slowly but surely contribute to a substantial change in the image of Slovakia in Austria. To become friends indeed, we need the knowledge of our neighbours, and a thoughtful perception and acknowledgement of them!

Erhard Busek The Picture of Slovakia Drawn by Our Culture Culture is an umbrella concept containing not only an aesthetic, but also an ethical, sociological and economic dimension. It is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, law, morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits adopted by a person as a member of the society. Culture may be actually used to denote the human way of life. Every culture is a specific way of life of a particular defined group of people.

Living culture means above all the performing arts, musical arts, literature and book culture, fine arts, architecture, design, cinema and audio-visual arts, and communication media. a komunikačné médiá. At present it is not possible to look at each area in isolation because the mutual permeation of these areas is a global trend. Creating multimedia projects with an emphasis on new media, conceptual art, as well as the emergence of disparate heterogeneous activities that combine traditional and modern arts begin to play a big role. Culture is not just an external manifestation, but mostly an intrinsic symbol of quality of life of an individual and the society. It is created, in particular, by learning in family, preschool education, school education, extra-curricular educational activities, direct and indirect influence of the immediate environment, and the shared values individuals and the society are willing to accept. If we had to name the image of Slovakia being created by culture in the whole complexity of this concept, then this would have to be a scientific study. And that is what I do not want to write. Therefore, let me address just some aspects and, of course, from my subjective point of view. What is the picture of Slovakia created by media? Whether we like it or not, media influence very much the way we perceive the country we live in and the overall atmosphere in the society. The Slovak media environment has undergone major transformations over the past twenty-five years. First, there were changes related to changing economic and political order, then the formation of an independent state, and, finally, the technological developments, and the onset of the information society. The size and language quality of the media market is determined by its capacity. After the boom of the Internet, space is created for the emergence of new media. As it was mainly companies to become the media owners whose principal business were not the media as such, we tackled the problem of economic pressure to shift them toward tabloids. The media try to be (often at any cost) more successful than competitors, to win more readers or viewers, in order to get as big piece of the advertising cake as possible. People with clear aesthetic or ethical vision about how a medium (of any focus) should look like, with the responsibility to perceive problems in the longer term than the next month, or year, and then the ability to implement to implement this vision, have appeared in managerial positions in the media only sporadically. The result is a decline in the quality of journalism, and getting the attention of readers / listeners / viewers has become the only criterion (save for honourable exceptions). We are witnessing media rushing to give us the most shocking information. And they never have the positive cultural charge. Politicians, much of whom just lack any vision, morals and responsibility and who see the world as sections bounded by elections, compete with the media in how to create a feeling of the greatest possible threat in Slovakia, so that then they can offer the citizens their 'protection'. The result is a feeling that we are living more and more in a country rushing into a disaster. It is the real picture? There is whole series of criteria which can be used to "measure" where we stand as compared to other countries of the world. And I do not just refer to third world countries, or those shaken by conflicts or natural disasters. We can talk with foreigners who live in Slovakia - ranging from those who came from the "East", to those who came from the "West". Everyone will tell you that the living conditions in Slovakia are above standard. This does not mean that we have no serious problems and that the way they do not solve them (because they do not win elections) can bring us to even more serious problems. However, how is it possible that we see ourselves and the conditions in which we exist not objective? This shows that often the "image of reality" (virtual reality) is more important to us than the reality itself. On the other hand, very often we encounter negative reactions from the public, if artistic expressions – as referred to by Shakespeare's Hamlet – set a mirror to the real relationships in our society. And if they make it abroad with their quality. Since the creation of an autonomous state, we have been "sensitive" to the "renegades" who go out "slandering" our country. We have already acquired the historical experience in how we fail to take a critical look at ourselves. Vieme, že We know that we have always been the "oppressed", and now we are still "so miserable", but never did we look back to review all of our own failures. Our political culture steadily cultivates an image of a hurt nation, which, although siding with the "policy of evil", did so in an "understandable self- defence". Where there was some public self-reflection, it emerged mostly through the creation of the living culture. We still keep blurring the image of the Slovak State, but there is no one to dare to doubt the indictment in the Oscar-winning (Czech and Slovak) film, The Shop on the Main Street. Similarly, the films of the Czech and Slovak New Wave, including also Slovak films, were able to reflect very precisely the hideousness of the emerging socialism. I use films as examples, but there were reflections on the times in expressions in all artistic fields. What image of Slovakia is created by the present living art? Like in any time, today we are many expressions which are capable of hitting the company on the sensitive spot and thus open discussions on topics still important to the society. In the times when the city of Žilina was under the rule of Ján Slota, a very powerful stream of independent culture emerged which has created an important image of the living culture to this day. The reaction of the Banská Bystrica Region's governor to theatre performances he "did not like" are a proof that the liberal arts disturb people with non-democratic thinking. At the same time, however, it is indicative of the fact that culture can be a tool to detect such views and to "fight" them. Each area of the living culture has got a very wide scope. Let me look at Slovakia from the outside. Films are the easiest export goods. Therefore, a country's arts are often seen in particular through its film industry. What are the present day's Slovak films like? First of all, it is important to say that since after the 1990s, when the privatization and the absence of new tools to finance the film industry separated from the state almost made film making disappear and the public service television almost resigned to fulfil its functions, we can now really evaluate the film production in Slovakia. Not only we can, but also the viewers who have returned to the Slovak films again. The film world started to notice the new Slovak cinematography before 2010, in particular through documentaries (Blind Loves, The Border, Other Worlds, Osadné, Cooking History), but there were also some live action films reflecting the life in the society in the search of new rules and values following the changes in 1989 and 1993 (The City of the Sun, Return of the Storks, Soul at Peace). Bratislavafilm even managed to attract the younger generation to cinemas. The genre diversity has expanded since 2010. The traditionally strong documentary films (Nicky's Family, The Gypsy Vote, New Life of Family Album, Velvet Terrorists, Felvidek. Caught in Between) were supplemented with more documentaries to open up serious political and social issues (Men of Revolution, Fragile Identity, The Grasp of the State, Normalization - The Cervanová Case), as well as documents with a strong artistic expression (wave vs. shore), or films reaching a wider audience through their topics and approach (38). In the field of actors' films, the success of Bratislavafilm among viewers was followed by some more films from the present days (Lóve, Candidate), and the first festival instances from before 2010 (Blind Loves) were followed by more Slovak films (The House, Gypsy, Made in Ash, Children, My Dog Killer, Eva Nová, Koza). There was even the first full-feature animated film after 1993, Lokalfilmis, successful among the audience. The recent years have shown yet another positive trend. Slovak films are accepted by audiences and perceived positively abroad. Documentaries Steam on the River and A Hole in the Head brought a very positive reflection of important topics and they were received positively in the world. The film titled Little Harbour showed a very sensitive look at the present times through the eyes of children, and returned from Berlin with an award. The Teacher also succeeded with viewers and in the world – first in Karlovy Vary and then in cinemas around the world (including the USA, Australia, and even dubbed in Italy and Spain). Young viewers have been able to come to cinemas to watch a film about rape (Filthy). Genre films also found their way to cinemas (The Red Captain, All or Nothing), and there was also a film made which actually influenced the solution to serious political problem (Kidnapping). This year we had Out in the official programme in Cannes (Out), another sensitive film Nina is currently heading to cinemas after starting its journey in Toronto. And so on... What image of Slovakia is created by the present film industry? In the first place it gives evidence that we have talented people across generations, who want and can tell powerful stories from past and present. I their opinion, Slovakia is a country where politics and media have been living in a kind of virtual reality, having in common with the life of ordinary people. They see Slovakia as part of the world of advent of communication technology which seem to push out normal human communication. They make people feel lonely, helpless, and desolate. Nevertheless, through their creation, artists still keep looking for love, understanding and justice in the world. The Pink Elephant

Hooray, we have won! It takes is superhuman powers to get the colossus of the Ministry to move. But we made it. We, from the Institute for Cultural Policies, from an ordinary non-governmental organisation. The Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic is preparing to set up a new body. We do not know yet whether it will be the heart, the intestines, hopefully not the kidneys, but the Ministry started to feel the need to institutionalise the critical thinking directly inside it. The people at the Ministry were not inventive enough to come up with anything else than to set up the "Institute of Cultural Policies". You say there has already been a similar one? So what! It is only non-governmental. Can you feel the governmental contempt? But we do not perceive the new Institute with contempt, we understand that it has all already occurred to them! After all, we will get over it. Because until it is set up, until someone becomes the director, until he (probably not she) gets a secretary, until a car is bought, a driver is hired, business cards are printed, and desks and chairs are moved in, that will be a long time of waiting. Not to mention the agendas, visions, strategies to be approved ... The strategic question is: will they also finance the Institute's activities from grants of the Arts Council? Before this year is over we will prepare another round table about our Handbooks , we will publish some more Cultural Oxygens and travel across Slovakia with our MemoGym project. The idea that an office worker from the Ministry makes puppets and sits with them in front of schools like we do with MemoGym is so absurd that we are quite ungrudging. Let the Institute of Cultural Policy be created. By the way, the Ministry has already had such an institute. It ended up with studies of the only critically thinking man who actually worked in the field of cultural policies - and he was a Czech man. We at ICP have made man attempt to valorise and appreciate his work. We, from a civic association. So welcome, Institute. Maybe we will be not invited to your kick-off, but do not worry, we will not behave like the Three Sisters. On the contrary, we can help you, because we have got the experience. We are ready for cooperation. (Are we optimistic again? There we are, we will not change.)

ICP Interview with Director of the Orava Gallery, Eva Ľuptáková

IKP visited an exceptional gallery, the Orava Gallery in Dolný Kubín. Whenever I entered the Gallery to spend pleasant hours surrounded by collections of mostly modern Slovak fine arts from the the first half of the 20th century, I asked myself a question: how is this possible? What made it so that it was possible not only to start but also to maintain and constantly expand such incredible collections far from the capital and from Martin. doplňovať tie neuveriteľné zbierky. Finally, I asked the most competent person, the Director of the Gallery, Ms. Eva Ľuptáková. EĽ: Immediately after the founding of the Gallery, during the two years from 1965 to 67, the first director, Juraj Langer acquired an extensive collection of traditional folk art of the Orava region on the basis of many years of research. Only when people started to consider how the gallery should look like and what all should be exhibited, hand in hand with traditional folk art, naive art was added which has persisted in the Orava region to this day, for example, in the form of wooden sculptures of Mr. Siváň. The stonemasonry creation in large part remains in situ but well documented, for the presentation purposes we have got casts in the gallery. This was later supplemented by research into inspirations by folk art, which naturally lead to Benka, Bazovský, Palugyay and many others, and the collection kept growing. There is a good reason for the saying that almost all painters have gone through the "Orava inspiration". The collection of paintings from the 1st half of the 20th century is one the most numerous and best quality collections on the national scale. MV: Has such a non-traditional way of the Gallery's founding had an impact on its activities? EĽ: Yes, and the proof are the 8 disciplines of fine art and more than 8 500 works. We are the only Gallery in Slovakia focused on gallery but partly also museum activities. Slovak galleries were founded in waves. After the Slovak National Gallery was founded in 1949, followed by the Gallery of Košice and the galleries in Liptovský Mikuláš and Banská Bystrica. Then came a wave of the 60s and the 80s. It was a time when every district wanted to have not only a educational facility, a museum, a library, but also a gallery, however, the question was what would be next thing to do and what to do with these institutions? Interestingly, many of the galleries established among the last ones still seek their programme and distinction, which is what we (the Orava Gallery) have had since the beginning. For example, our yeoman families in Orava (Mikuláš Zmeškal - Nikolaus Zmeskall, Beethoven's personal secretary), a collection of portraits of them, well and thoughtfully designed structure of the collections – this is the birth certificate of the gallery. In my opinion it is primarily the most important core, if we are talking about cultural heritage institutions that manage a large part of the visual cultural heritage. MV: Where did you get the funding ? EĽ: The gallery was funded by the District National Committee, the founding authority. The earlier first proposed name was the Orava Picture Gallery but by the time the administrative process of establishing was completed, the Orava Gallery had already been established. It had two and a half members of staff, the district would not allow more employees. It was a time of enthusiasm and the founders, Ignác Kolčák, s, Ctibor Belan, and Juraj Langer, surrounded themselves with enthusiasts. Artists donated their works spontaneously, the Gallery made an inventory of movable religious heritage approved by the Bishop's Office - the Spiš Chapter, in order to serve the exhibition purposes on the Slanica Island of Art. It was a dynamic, viable start. I think that Ľubomír Feldek called the Gallery the "Pike of Orava" at the time. MV: It always seemed to me that you were not affected by normalization. EĽ: The Gallery has had only six directors within a period of fifty years. And, in geographic terms, we were far from the centre. My predecessors have been able to find a common language with the local officials, and as Mrs. Ľudmila Peterajová said — "the Orava Gallery succeeded because it was in the still life of Orava" – after all, we are closer to Cracow than to Bratislava. MV: So there was always some continuity. EĽ: Yes, Ignác Kolčák as a tireless builder and organiser, laid the foundation for many activities, and Ctibor Belan was a strong personality with a phenomenal memory. Artists respected him because he often drew their attention to paintings in their bursting studios which they had forgotten about. This way collections were completed. And the district authority funded that. MV: And what about the decentralisation after 1993? EĽ: Now we are a gallery administered by the Žilinský Self-Governing Region. The money for the cultural institutions – the region has got 23 – is greatly insufficient. We are often recommended to get funds from the Arts Council. The biggest problem of culture is not the amount of money, but their inefficient allocation, lack of investment in people, and unclear responsibility for quality. Today, we are all rivals. Everyone wants more. Nine regional heritage organisations begging for money. Way back the District National Committees strived to finance their institutions and sought for opportunities to meet their requirements. All of what we show today with pride in the nine permanent expositions in three districts of Orava was acquired mainly in the previous century. This means centralization had some advantages. MV: So you bought little of rubbish? EĽ: We can still put the vast majority on display today. It was always about the Director and commissions – there were meetings for preliminary selection of acquisitions. The works are presented and supported with reasons to buy, and for example, in the 1980s, when they were just three regions in Slovakia, the regional galleries from Central Slovakia brought works for assessment by an acquisition panel in Banská Bystrica. And the stakes were high there. The Director had to present and defend a collection. Today the acquisition commissions meetings are held for the Žilina Self-Governing Region only, however, given the very small contribution for acquisitions the purchases are really very moderate. There is some support from the Arts Council, but not taking account of all the requests. Well, and then there is the question of the prices for the acquisition of contemporary art. Galleries stand no chance competing with the private collectors and groups who buy works of art as an investment. As regards the acquisition policy guidelines in other galleries in the Žilina region (the Orava Gallery is a gallery with a regional scope for the Žilinský Self-Governing Region), I am trying to help my younger colleagues – today we have got more managers than art historians among us – and so we educate. This is not well apprehended, because of the absence of professional training and practice. Often they tell us — "but that was a gift..." MV: It is difficult to refuse ... EĽ: On the contrary, they must be able to refuse, too. Because a gift expects to be accepted, then it may happen that it will lie unused on the shelf in the repository. MV: The fates of the galleries are mostly sad. We see exchanges of gallery managements under the pressures from local poor quality painters. Do you have this problem too? EĽ: No, we have not had this problem for a minimum of 37 years (probably because the Director of the Gallery has been the same person since 1984). We do not have many active artists in Dolný Kubín. As one of my colleagues once told me: "... it must be so great for you in Orava, you have no living artists there!" MV: At ICP we have been trying to figure out how much the public and private funding is spent on supporting the living modern culture. Private money is barely traceable, and the two-thirds of the public money is spent on employment in culture. EĽ: The situation really varies. In 2016, the activities of the Orava Gallery were funded by contributions from the establishing authority, own revenue, sales of goods and services and income from rental and advertising, subsidies from the Arts Council, financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, financial subsidies from the budget support, contributions and contributions from sponsors and donations of fine art. From the establishing authority we regularly receive funds for wages and deductions, and "a little more" for everything else. Well, and to do with that?! Figuratively speaking, we are forced to go and beg for money from sponsors, who ask right away – do you want to use my money to buy pictures? In order to succeed and get support, we need to have a very good contact with the private entities, almost a friendly relationship. For illustration, I can give information on acquisitions in the Orava Gallery for the last year. From our perspective it was a good year, but what is worth noting is the data how many of its own funds which the Gallery had to make were invested in purchasing acquisitions: The gallery collection was expanded by 44 pieces of artworks totalling EUR 88,900. Of that number, 31 works were purchased for EUR 53,500 and 13 works were donated worth EUR 35,400 The collection of the Gallery as of 31st December 2016 was 8,521 works of art. The purchase of collection items was funded by resources from the Žinina Self-Governing Region in the amount of EUR 6,475, from the Arts Council in the amount of EUR 25,000 €, and from own revenue worth EUR 22,025. MV: Is the Arts Council ("Fund for Supporting Arts") actually a fund? Does it valorise money? It is just a Copy&Paste of the Audiovisual Fund. Artists are happy because these funds do not have an integrated evaluation, assessment of the efficiency and performance of the resources spent. Thus, there is no real criticism, and especially, no one is accountable. EĽ: We also have some reservations. There are many things that lack any logic, the way of distributing the money and the amount awarded bother me. Many times the Arts Council will not help institutions because of major and illogically budget cuts do not allow to implement the project as a whole. Many applicants prefer to return the money. We argue with the management of the Arts Council to make them consider the fact that our budget plan for a project is very responsible, we do not want to waste the money. But what will we do with a third of the money we have applied for? It is even worse than when had the Pro Slovakia scheme. MV: How is it possible that there was the shame around Bernini? EĽ: The public is already fed up, because similar problems occur in Slovakia in varying modifications. I personally feel disappointment and a bad taste of the course of action in the case of Bernini, because the little flame of hope that things are going in the right direction was put out. MV: Whether we have one Bernini or not is not an issue to mock, but what ails me is the atmosphere, the sluggishness, the principle ... EĽ: It's like an octopus, if our society does not have a flair for art, collections, their value, no taste and art education, it is easy do deploy financial levers. Bernini left and now everyone in the world waves it off - why go there to Slovakia, after all, who knows how it looks there, when they let something like that slip through their fingers. And we are treated as all alike. MV: That implies that what we are missing is the drive, educated successors, social acceptance of these professions... EĽ: Our long term creed is to make the Orava Gallery credible, not a disappointment. In order to get visitors to come back. All of this is related to the content of your question. MV: There were many works exported from Slovakia... EĽ: Better said, what we know has been exported, and many things will remain a mystery for ever after. I know same cases from my practice when owners living abroad, those who wanted to go the legal route, would not finally get their own property. I would point to the system of heritage commissions who make decisions on exports of works. MV: I tried to persuade the Minister to issue a decree on who may be a director of a cultural institution, but I failed. EĽ: In the past, there were conditions stipulated precisely and specifically. Nowadays, a "manager" of a cultural institution is even no longer required to have a corresponding university degree ... This may be, for example, a teacher for the first level of primary schools. This would not work the other way round, for example, if an art historian aimed for the post of a director of a primary school. In many competitions, no experience in a managerial position is not required. How is it possible that we just stand by and watch the devaluation and even destruction of many specific expert professions in galleries and museums?! MV: What do you need in the system of cultural institutions? EĽ: I need nothing, only to be about twenty years younger so I could keep fighting and defend the traditional gallery work. Because all of my comments on the importance of expertise are just sneered at. An expert will never pick quality and competence by changing jobs frequently in various institutions. Now, my words may sound heretical, but Slovak galleries of today in the way they are constituted, financed and managed, do not belong in the new millennium. They have become an obsolete relic of the last century. We have already lost the methodological authority of the Slovak National Gallery, we have no successors, who would defend that we are a respected gallery community. That is why I like the joke about a man who talked to himself, and when he was asked about it, he replied, "I know, I suffer from soliloquy, but sometimes I need to hear a reasonable opinion of an expert."

Interviewed by Magdaléna Vášáryová Cultural institutions in Slovakia - a relationship without love

All of us know, and we also keep repeating, that we are a "young nation". Politically, we certainly are. And culturally? Were our cultural institutions created centuries later than those in Poland and in Germany? Who should be thanked for so many cultural institutions we have today? Like everywhere, all started in the private collections of scholars and collectors, among amateur actors and enthusiasts who were seen as fools. And like it often happens in history, we woke up institutionally after the thrashing of 1849. The Slovak national association, Matica slovenská (1863), which originated in Martin, was the basis for the national library, and as a symbol of the promotion of the idea that Slovaks have deep intellectual and cultural roots. korene. In 1869, Ambro Pietor returned from Prague, struck by the horror that Slovak women had not yet established their organisation, and founded Živena, the Slovak women association, with other men. Then we had to wait for decades of hungarization for Andrej Kmeť, a Catholic priest among all those Protestants, to create the core of a national museum in 1893. It is true that some people also brought junk from their barns, but the museum managed to collect the precious exhibits which still keep us proud. The Elizabethan University (1912) with its rich library was Hungarian, and nonetheless later adopted by the Comenius University (1919), and nowadays is one of the largest libraries, the University Library in Bratislava. Only without a university.

After 1918 and the formation of Czechoslovakia a flow of Czech enthusiasts to Slovakia began. Czech professors, teachers, doctors, scientists, the legionnaires. In addition to the University, they helped us establish professional theatres, museums, the basis of the library system, and started to collect and document the folk culture systematically. At that time, Josef Polák came to Košice and began to create what we now call the Košice Modernism. Wherever there was something happening and being founded, there was a Czech involved. No wonder that a national gallery was completely forgotten in this hustle, it would come into being in 1948. And, this way, Slovakia was "shooled" and "instituted", with the help from the Czech lands. Apparently, these processes were too quick, which had an impact on the further development of the institutions we took the command of in black boots in 1938. And the Czechs had to go "on foot to Prague". Today we could criticize them they did not stay away and did not give us the room to try it all ourselves stumbling over our own feet. Maybe we would have a more intimate and warmer relationship with our cultural institutions. We became accustomed to the Czech thoroughness, such as the Plicka's scenes of peasants on fields which have absolutely affected the romantic perception of our own folklore to this day. We integrated the rest quietly into our narration, without acknowledging the authorship. This fit together both with the People's Party displays and communist celebrations. We finally destroyed Matica slovenská, the national cultural association, only after gaining independence in 1993. Almost all of us know the continuation.

Today we can complain only about ourselves. As can be seen on the pie chart of institutions of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, the largest institution in terms of money is the Slovak National Theatre. The runners-up include the Slovak Philharmonic, the Slovak National Museum, the Slovak National Gallery, the Slovak National Library, the University Library, and the National Cultural Centre. Other institutions take less than just 3% or less of the total of 340 million euros. If we consider archives as cultural institutions (hello, Mr. Minister, finally we should take from the Ministry of Interior), with a five and half million budget they would be placed somewhere between the Monuments Board and the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising. The world trends include consolidation, mergers and fusions of institutions. It seems, however, that there is there is general satisfaction about the fragmentation of institutions in Slovakia. All chew their slices, although not big, and enjoy their independent statuses. Integration does not exist not only among the ministries of culture, education and the interior, but even inside these sectors. We have heaps of institutes and centres crowded with head managers and supervisors devoting time to distinguishing themselves from other institutions and defending their existence, because that is what the flow of money from the central depends on. And so it happens that the main working tool is not creativity and focus on education and cultivation of our citizens, but the quality of the electric kettles, and meal vouchers.

Example: The Slovak National Library (SNL) in Martin has got more than 10 times higher budget than the State Scientific Library in Banská Bystrica (SSL BB). And how many events in a year they organise? In addition to library services, SSL BB offers events for readers and the public, oriented towards contemporary art and not only on literature, that is, author readings, debates, exhibitions, and concerts. That is, roughly ten various events per month. Throughout the full year, SNL held less than thirty activities, aimed professionally and methodically at the professional community. It offers the public retrospective lectures and exhibitions about old literature through its Literary Museum. Its a good thing that there are Norwegian students of medicine who go to the study room to study.

Who are we going to make blame to find an excuse now? Survey

In Western Europe we are seen today as a "better pupil", at last more successful than the neighbours. But what about the fairy tale of Dumb Johnny, who would still become a king? Do we have a cultural foundation, a new literary narration we could offer to Slovaks? To replace Dumb Johnny by a European educated and enlightened "René"?

------I remembered two sentences which a gravedigger of Šaštín told me after my grandmother's funeral. Actually, she had gone to funerals of all the people of the town. The gravedigger said to me: "Considering how many peoples' funerals she came to, not so many people came to hers." There is something uncanny in this illogical sentence: literally dark humour. I am fascinated by its lightness, truthfulness, absurdity. And even a kind of hidden wisdom. Such a sentence is understandable not only in Slovakia, but throughout the world. The gravedigger's second sentence was: "Life does not matter to me, whoever wants to die, may die." Dušan Dušek ------The Tale of Never

"We will Never steal and lie again!" "Where he is that Never dear countrymen?" "7 mountains and 7 valleys far away."

Tomáš Janovic

------Slaying of a dragon would not be accepted by environmental activists and Dumb Johnny would not be so lucky because in the present day's schools he would be diagnosed as a restless child with ADHD in need of a therapy. However, René and Johnny share one characteristic important for Slovak nature: when go and look around the world, you see your home with new eyes. Experience of otherness, a different world than behind a fireplace of a notorious lazy family. Ancient fathers with tickets to America were replaced by grandchildren initially picking berries, but nowadays actually working in good and qualified positions, who - if they return - bring experience. Not all that glitters is gold in America, but still there are some rules that work - for example, a pay for work, we have the right to rest and a duty to take care of ourselves. What is worse, the Renés who have returned with their experiences, have to face those who have not left their homes, yet they managed – while René was wandering around – to occupy the positions where decisions are made. The outccome is that today we are living in a euphory manufactured in fluorishing factories of cheaaper labour, while the most skilled and gifted ones seek teachers outside our fences, and salaries higher than the doles for our teachers. And what about the literary narration? What we miss is an undistorted mirror of satire, whereas we still suffer from underestimation and complacent self-pity. These are diseases which cannot be treated with pounding our national chest ostentatiously. And what will help? Martin Kasarda The Protection of Cultural Heritage and Its Importance for Cultural Communication in Slovakia Cultural heritage is not only a rare and unique proof of the rich history and tradition in Slovakia, but a true picture of the times we live in. Just it fundamentally shapes our identity and helps create the unique genius loci of our country. A country with a complicated, but interesting history, diverse geography, with a varied ethnic and religious mix and, in particular, with a wealth of rare historical monuments and picturesque landscapes. The cultural heritage also includes a wide range of both tangible and intangible expressions of creative skills and craft of man. The tangible heritage comprises primarily immovable and movable national cultural monuments (items of architecture, urban planning, history, science and technology, or items of fine art and art-craft nature), heritage areas, collections of museums and galleriies, archival and library documents, various artifacts of folk traditional artistry as well as products of performing arts and modern audiovisual production. Intangible heritage include, in particular, the spiritual expressions of man, such as oral traditions, folklore, social and religious customs, rituals and events, mythology and habits, traditional craft, various geographical and place names, etc. Despite the difficult conditions of the various historical periods, and often at the cost of enormous devotion and sacrifice , our ancestors left a legacy which we like to admire today, which we are proud to boast about. It was created both by professionals, prominent artists and architects educated both at home and abroad, and untrained amateurs, anonymous people, who inherited a flair for natural beauty, and passed knowledge and skills on for generations. With great emotion and humility to tradition, they breathed their life into their work, they used it for some time, often perfected it, and eventually passed it on to their children hoping they would further develop it in the future. They assumed naturally that the relationship to the place, and family and social ties growing for many centuries will not let the opposite happen. No one would build or create a work of art not to be preserved, to quickly disappear from our surroundings, and then to get completely erased from memory. On the contrary, the creator was hoping for it to remain part of lives of generations to come, to serve them well and to keep the fragile bond between the creator and her or his offspring, between past and present. Through cultural heritage we have the opportunity to explore the life of our ancestors. The cultural heritage tells us how our ancestors lived over the centuries, what they did for living, what things were around them, that they enjoyed, how they perceived beauty, functionality, how they understood progress and new technical designs and how they coped with the many dramatic changes each era would bring. This way we communicate through cultural heritage with our ancestors. Thus they remain alive in our memory. Their story can be decrypted only as long as we are not indifferent to the cultural heritage, only when we are not destroying it recklessly and readily. As soon as owners, managers, but also the representatives of the local and central governments realise that heritage is not a useless and worthless burden in the way of economic development. When the society will respect it with delicacy, and perceive it as a natural part of life which needs to be taken care of on a regular basis. It takes a few hours, minutes and seconds to destroy an old building or a historic document, but much time had to elapse, closely tied to the life and destiny of many generations, for it to become historic, to gain its unique patina. What message are we giving to our forefathers, when they see a destroyed, neglected and abandoned property and dirty and weedy centres of historical settlements, which once flourished and were full of life? plné života? What are they thinking when they see a building or a whole heritage site mutilated by a contemporary structural modification? When properties are rebuilt in a disproportionate fashion, when there is a lack of a fundamental sense of architecture and detail, material, colour, scale, and proportion. What are they feeling when they witness silently a full demolition of historical structures, uncompromisingly replaced aith large industrial compounds, supermarkets and hypermarkets, shopping and business centres, luxurious villas of sterile catalogue-like architectural expression? What is their opinion about insensitive reconstructions of interiors of many religious buildings and the removal of their original historical movables? Maybe these items just want to say quietly: we are no historical thrash, we are works created to the glory and praise of God! And, on the other hand, how are they feeling to see a house, a church, a mansion, a castle, a mill, a bridge restored ... when after restoration or a plain artistic adjustment and craft a painting, a sculpture, a whole altar, a stucco decoration of a facade, a window ledge, clothes, items of daily use and so on, shine again in all their glory? And, above all, what are they feeling when something already built and created serves its purpose again, bringing joy and advantages? And although the physical substance of our fathers was irretrievably lost long ago in infinite universe, their soul, which may be still dwelling anywhere among us, in the trees, at the springs of rivers and streams, or up in heavens, definitely feels the joy and satisfaction after all, as the efforts have not been wasted, and they continue to live in their work. Let us not take cultural heritage as our private property we can handle with no care and do with what we deem appropriate and economically beneficial at a given moment. Let us not suppose we are the unlimited owners, for we are only temporary users and custodians. Let us protect it carefully, enhance it and pass it on to future generations. Surely, in return it will come as precious and attractive part of our environment. As a means naturally cultivating the society and educating our children. And, at the same time, as a unique phenomenon which will help us find answers to frequently asked questions: who we are, what we are, and where we come from. Miloš Dudáš Monitoring

The Slovak Republic's Capital of Culture We have been waiting a long time for our Minister of Culture to grab the chance of using that tempting match. After all, he is M.M., not really Marilyn Monroe, but Melina Mercouri. The former Minister of Culture in Greece, who stood at the birth of the European Capital of Culture, a title the Slovak city of Košice enjoyed 3 years ago. And because the M.M. brand is a commitment, Slovak Minister of Culture Marek Maďarič figured out we will have a Capital of Culture in Slovakia. In view of the fact that a city is considered throughout the world to be with a settlement with more than 50 thousand inhabitants, the project office will not be of long duration. So we assume that after eight years, it will be renamed to the Capital Village of Culture of the Slovak Republic. In short, Slovakia is not Europe and not every M.M. is M.M.

Cvernovka - the Thread Factory In a while, we'll all follow www.startlab.sk/zivakultura on a regular basis. The page of relocated and renovated Cvernovka, the Thread Factory. We are happy this initiative has adopted the same term "living culture" we started to use at ICP after long debates while devising a way to give a simple and apt name too the current modern culture. výstižne pomenovať súčasnú modernú kultúru. People of Cvernovka, we are your stable subscribers.

Progressive Slovakia Why is it that even after extensive researches, analyses by the brains of culture and politics, we see the world worse than it is in reality? It is because we are closer to a virtual world than to the reality? Believe us that we have read carefully several times all references to culture in this voluminous descriptive document. Indeed, the language is complicated, we read some of the sentences as many as three times and we understand that, when there is everything, everything is what we have to change. But what to do with Slovaks? That is our timid question.

Protecting our cultural values Once upon a time, there was a gentleman getting on very well with Stalin, and his name was Andrey Alexandrovich Zhdanov. Today, he wrongly fell into oblivion as a person, but his ideas will live forever. He fought like a lion against foreign cultural influence brought into our pure socialist world by foreigners, immigrants, the others, such as those of Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian cultures. Not only of the American one The truth is that he was not much into the Christian culture. However, the vocabulary and the way he used to keep the purity by building culturally impassable walls and borders, are the same like those used by his docile pupils. With the Soviet Union for ever and not anything else! ICP Glossary

(the terms come to exist around the world at an alarming rate, just like they cease to exist, and we will try to keep you in the swim of things)

Cultural destruction Beloved and popular, definitely non-boring, tendency of stupefying the society, often celebrated as progress. In Slovakia, it disguises the Slovak cultural nationism. Try to be against it!

Binge-watching When you sit all night in front of the TV to see an entire season of a show, regardless of the fact that the individual episodes are terrible. It's like eating all antibiotics in one evening, to shorten the time till you can drink. Grapefruit juice, for example.

Hate-watching Post-modern tendency of watching bad movies and series with a sombre face, possibly with condemning shouts. The next day follows with relief in describing, judging and criticising the above said. The result is higher self-confidence.

Guilty pleasure In contrast to hate-watching this is consumption of junk culture, but this time with delight, that something like this exists, and that you know how horrible it is. A flow of endorphins throughout your body is guaranteed. After all, watching something we find irritating is probably a remnant from attending Communist Party meetings in the past. And maybe still today.

Banter A new-time mockery with friends (male or female), which has crossed the line of respectability as seen to date. According to experts this is an excuse for racism, sexism and the similar -isms by presenting it as fun. There is no need to explain this too much, just watch some Top Gear.