2024-08-17 16:40:20
Representatives of Slovak culture and the public took to the streets of Bratislava this Monday for a march and subsequent demonstration against the Minister of Culture, Martina Šimkovičová. The protest was called by the citizens’ initiative Open Culture after Šimkovičová dismissed the director of the Slovak National Theater and the Slovak National Gallery last week.
The organizers called on Šimkovičová to resign. Citing information from the police, they said that 9,000 people came to the demonstration.
The crowd, led by the artists, set off from the building of the Slovak National Theater to the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture in the center of the metropolis, about a kilometer away. During the parade, people shouted, for example, “We will not give culture” or “Leave”.
The actors carried a large banner with the inscription “Culture should be open and no other”, apparently in response to Šimkovičová’s earlier statement that the culture of the Slovak people should be Slovak and no other.
At the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture on Slovak National Uprising Square, where demonstrations have been held since the so-called Velvet Revolution in 1989, the protest continued with a rally. The participants welcomed the dismissed director of the gallery Alexandru Kusou and the theater Matej Drlička with applause.
“It is very important that the world looks at Slovakia. Immediately after my resignation and Kusá’s resignation, supportive opinions began to arrive not only from theater associations, various theaters and galleries, but also from the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic,” mentioned Drliček from the podium. Czech Minister of Culture Martin Baxa from the ODS offered him membership in the commission that will select the new general director of the National Theater in Prague.
Representatives of art university students and actress Jana Oľhová also made speeches against Šimkovičová at Monday’s rally. In the afternoon, representatives of the Slovak cultural community gathered in the building of the Slovak National Theatre, including well-known actors Emília Vášáryová, Táňa Pauhofová and Martin Huba. The representatives of the theater discussed with the Minister of Culture, but according to the media, there was no rapprochement between the views of the two sides.
Martina Šimkovičová, who promotes so-called traditional culture and defines herself with respect to LGBT+ topics, for example, was criticized by some representatives of culture, the public and the opposition when she took over as head of the Ministry of Culture last year. There, the Slovak National Party appointed four-time prime minister Robert Fico as a minister in the government.
Just after the dismissal of the heads of the Slovak National Theater and then the Slovak National Gallery, Šimkovičová is now facing a new wave of criticism. Almost 190,000 people have already signed a new petition online for her to resign. The opposition announced that they will try to recall her again in the lower house. Two opposition parties called their own demonstration on Tuesday.
In response to Šimkovičová’s actions, Czech artists and other personalities called for help to their colleagues in Slovakia. Slovak actress Zuzana Kronerová read this appeal for a demonstration in Bratislava.
Slovak Prime Minister Fico defended Šimkovičová last week, according to him, she proceeded in accordance with the law during the personnel changes.
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