Matej Drlička – born in 1976, clarinettist, orchestral musician and music manager with career stages in the USA and France – was appointed General Director of the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava in 2021, whose orchestra he once belonged to as principal clarinettist. In August 2024, he and the Director of the Slovak National Gallery, Alexandra Kusá were removed from office by the Minister of Culture, Martina Šimkovičová. Both dismissals were founded on the argument that they had criticised her ministry and used their positions to engage in political activism. An open letter initiated by the Wiener Festwochen at the time stated: ‘What is being called activism here is nothing other than the freedom of expression that is customary in a democracy for every form of artistic and intellectual activity‘.
After all, Matej Drlička had to look for a new job: ‘So, I decided to continue to do what I did before and what I am best at as a freelancer: organising events.’ And why not build on his own experiences to organise an event that draws attention to the growing threat to artistic freedom? This gave rise to the idea of founding a civil society platform entitled ‘Open Culture!‘ and the plan for an ‘Open Culture International Conference’ with the aim to initiate an open dialogue on the state of culture, artistic freedom and cultural policy in Europe. On 29 and 30 May 2025, high-ranking experts, artists, representatives of the European Commission, international cultural networks and public figures from all over Europe met at the Old Market Hall in Bratislava for the first edition of an Open Culture International Conference.
The first day was dedicated to the situation in Slovakia. The critical state of Slovakian cultural institutions after the appointment of politically compliant directors was discussed, as well as civil society resistance to the Fico government’s interventions in the country’s cultural life and cultural funding. This resistance is reflected in numerous and powerful protest actions, public appeals, complaints and petitions. Concerns about the increasing division of the cultural scene and society as a whole, which is being actively pushed by the current Slovakian government through the propagation of an artificially constructed antagonism between a national and a cosmopolitan, a good and a bad culture, were also addressed.
The second day then broadened the perspective to the situation of artistic freedom in other European countries, drew comparisons between the situation in Slovakia and other EU countries at risk (‘Slovakia is going through the process that took 15 years in Hungary in one year!’), but above all dealt with fundamental questions about the future of culture in the context of increasing authoritarian tendencies, hybrid threats, political pressure and budget cuts. In a total of six exciting panel discussions, representatives of international institutions, artists, sociologists, journalists, academics and mayors of European cities exchanged their experiences and point of views.
It also became clear that the threat to artistic freedom no longer only affects the usual suspects of five or six European countries that are led by a right-wing populist, illiberal or openly authoritarian government. There are also increasing tendencies of a gradual and creeping deterioration of the situation in other countries. The threat to and restriction of artistic freedom often occurs in subtle ways: through self-censorship and anticipatory obedience, e.g. out of artists’ concern that they would otherwise no longer receive support from public funds.
It was good to see that the organisers of the Open Culture! Conference had also made sure not only to provide space to complain about the status quo, but also to proactively look to the future. On the one hand, this was done by constructively discussing the creation of a suitable legal instrument suited to protect the freedom of art in analogy to the rule of law in all EU member states. On the other hand, this was achieved through the adoption of the Bratislava Declaration, which was visible and immediately recognised by the public and whose first signatories included the AEC, represented on site by its former Chief Executive, Stefan Gies.
We wish the Bratislava Declaration many signatories and a resounding success. Please help to spread the message, do what you can to safeguard the freedom of artistic expression and academic freedom for the future!
More information and the detailed program of the conference are available at: www.opencultureconference.sk
