Over the week, the concerns of the contemporary art scene regarding the future of Kunsthalle Bratislava escalated into an open letter and public confrontation with the Culture Minister at the opening of the exhibition "Inversed romanticism" that was held on Thursday. Artists, art historians and theorists fear the plans of the Culture Ministry to establish a Creative Centre in the premises of the exhibition halls of the contemporary art gallery. Nina Vrbanova, the Kunsthalle Bratislava's acting director, explains: "I don't exactly know what they mean by the project of a Creative Centre. The Ministry does not have a particular plan for that. It seems that contemporary visual art will not be its priority. And that's the thing that in this case, the identity of this building would be changed."
The Culture Minister Lubica Lassakova attended the opening of the exhibition "Inversed romanticism" on Thursday. At the entrance to the exhibition hall, there were Academy of Fine Arts and Design students standing with a slogan: "Stojime pri Kunsthalle" (we stand by Kunsthalle). Student Juraj Mydla: "We wanted to express somehow our solidarity with Kunsthalle because it is an important institution for us as art students and that works both ways. We are also looking forward to, maybe sometime, exhibiting our projects here. From the perspective of education, it is a place where great contemporary art is exhibited and there is no such institution in Bratislava."
In her speech in the exhibition hall, the Culture Minister Lubica Lassakova assured the artists that: "No closure of the Kunsthalle Bratislava is planned. The building will be renovated and thus the institutions seated here will move temporarily." As she added, she has not yet received any project for managing the Kunsthalle in the future.
In their public call, artists voiced four requests to be accepted by the Culture Ministry including acquiring a legal identity, acquiring the premises under Kunsthalle Bratislava management, solutions regarding the creative industry that would not clash with the work of existing cultural institutions and expert dialogue ahead of any kind of change to be made in the sphere of culture. Lubica Lassakova was invited by the students of the Fine Arts Academy to discuss the situation of Kunsthalle Bratislava on Monday, 8th April, at the University. She accepted the invitation as well as the management of the Kunsthalle and the initiators of the open call.
The Kunsthalle Bratislava is the first of its kind in the Slovak capital. It was established by the Culture ministry in 2014 and has been seated in the premises of Dom umenia (House of Art) in the centre of Bratislava ever since. The building was built in 1965 as a contemporary art exhibition hall. Today, it is the seat of the Národné osvetové centrum, the National Cultural and Educational Centre and Kunsthalle Bratislava, among others.
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