Museums under Political Control
L’Internationale would like to share the statement of MG workers, their deep concern about the degradation of Slovenian democracy, and the severe consequences it is having for cultural workers, art institutions, and the teams working in them.
Moderna galerija was the initiator and founder member of L’Internationale and the confederation members would like to express their support to our colleagues and the difficult situation they face every day. We join them in asking for solidarity and support from the wider art world in this very difficult moment.
The Case of Moderna galerija (MG+MSUM), Ljubljana
In 2020, the long-term mandate of Moderna galerija’s Director Zdenka Badovinac ended and she reapplied for her job, as she had done several times before. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia as the founder of Moderna galerija issued a call for applications for the post of the Director of MG+MSUM. Instead of reappointing the director, and despite the loudly voiced opposition of the broader professional public, the Ministry repeated the call for candidates three times, changing in the process the statutes of MG+MSUM and the qualifications and requirements for the post, in order to enable the appointment of the Ministry’s favoured candidate, Aleš Vaupotič. His eventual appointment was one of the many politically motivated changes regarding the directors of the national cultural institutions in Slovenia implemented by the current government that we have been witnessing over the last two years.
Since the appointment as Director of MG+MSUM of Aleš Vaupotič, the staff of the museum have had a very difficult experience. The new director has acted extremely arbitrarily towards the museum’s past work, reputation and the institution’s history, and has conducted toxic work relations with most of the employees. On many levels – in terms of the museum’s public service and its vision and mission – the vast majority of the staff have come to realize that such activities are destructive of the institution and represent a serious threat for its mission – a mission that the expert staff continue to support.
On numerous occasions staff have notified the Director of their disagreement on individual issues. The employees have appealed against the irregularities in management, suggested improvements by email and personally at staff meetings but these have all been without any concrete, visible effect. As a result, after a year of working (or not working) together the staff have publicly issued the letter below.
The Director’s immediate reaction was to ask for a dialogue but this comes after a year of futile attempts on the staff’s part to hold a dialogue with the management and make it take their positions into consideration. His reproach that staff is refusing to talk is therefore ungrounded and misleading and cannot be taken seriously.
For the museum employees this is a major step. As they say: “our profound concern for the future of the museum, its reputation and status, its national and international collaborations, and the professional standards of art museum work have driven us to bring to the public attention the irregularities in managing the museum and issue a public appeal for the resignation of the Director and the Assistant Director.”
Read the full Public Letter of Protest here.
The views and opinions published here mirror the principles of academic freedom and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the L'Internationale confederation and its members.
Related activities
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–Moderna galerijaZRC SAZU
Summer School: Our Many Easts
Our Many Easts summer school is organised by Moderna galerija in Ljubljana in partnership with ZRC SAZU (the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) as part of the L’Internationale project Museum of the Commons.
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–Moderna galerijaZRC SAZU
Open Call – Summer School: Our Many Easts
Our Many Easts summer school takes place in Ljubljana 24–30 August and the application deadline is 15 March. Courses will be held in English and cover topics such as the legacy of the Eastern European avant-gardes, archives as tools of emancipation, the new “non-aligned” networks, art in times of conflict and war, ecology and the environment.
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–MSU ZagrebVan AbbemuseumModerna galerijaZRC SAZU
Open Call – School of Common Knowledge
MSU (Zagreb), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), MG+MSUM (Ljubljana), ZRC SAZU (Ljubljana) and L'Internationale invite applications for the new School of Common Knowledge (SCK) to be held in Zagreb and Ljubljana 24–29 May 2024. The School of Common Knowledge draws on the network, knowledge and experience of the L’Internationale museum confederation. Its ambition is to be both nomadic and situated, looking at specific cultural and geopolitical situations while exploring their relations and interdependencies with the rest of the world. The SCK is built on the basis laid by the Glossary of Common Knowledge project initiated by Zdenka Badovinac and Moderna galerija (Ljubljana) and continues its co-learning methodology.
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–MSU ZagrebVan AbbemuseumModerna galerijaZRC SAZU
School of Common Knowledge
School of Common Knowledge draws on the network, knowledge and experience of the L’Internationale museum confederation. Built on the basis laid by the Glossary of Common Knowledge, a project initiated by Zdenka Badovinac and Moderna Galerija in Ljubljana, it continues its co-learning methodology. Its ambition is to be both nomadic and situated, looking at specific cultural and geopolitical situations while exploring their relations and interdependencies with the rest of the world.
Related contributions and publications
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Performances from the opening of The Heritage of 1989. Case Study: The Second Yugoslav Documents Exhibition
Jusuf Hadžifejzović, Azra Akšamija, Ilija ŠoškićDialoguesModerna galerija -
Epistemologies of the South
Zdenka Badovinac, Jesús Carrillo, Patrick FloresDialoguesModerna galerija -
Art at Work – At the Crossroads between Utopianism and (In)Dependence
Moderna galerija -
Realize! Resist! React! – Performance and Politics in the 1990s in the Post-Yugoslav Context
Moderna galerija -
»We should never abandon the possibility of our active presence«
Zdenka Badovinac, Ieva Astahovska, Bermet Borubaeva, Darja Filippova, Nika Ham, Dorota Michalska, Radek Przedpełski, Ekaterina VorontsovaModerna galerija -
Our Movements Are Loud
Bridge RadioModerna galerijaHDK-Valand -
Tuning, Bias, and the Wild Beyond
Nora Akawi, Khyam AllamiModerna galerijaHDK-Valand -
Newsreel 65 – “We have too much things in heart…”
Moderna galerija -
The Heritage of 1989. Case Study: The Second Yugoslav Documents Exhibition
Moderna galerija -
From Kapital to Capital. Neue Slowenische Kunst – an Event of the Final Decade of Yugoslavia
Moderna galerija -
Museums under Political Control
Workers from Moderna galerijaModerna galerija -
Reading list: School of Common Knowledge 2024
School of Common KnowledgeSchool of Common KnowledgeSituated OrganizationsMSU ZagrebModerna galerijaZRC SAZU -
Dispatch: In between the lessons. Staying together in uncertain times, laughing in the face of trouble, and disobeying; the future belongs to us
Antonela SoleničkiSchool of Common KnowledgeSituated OrganizationsMSU ZagrebModerna galerijaZRC SAZU -
Dispatch: The Commonsverse and Situated Organisations – or why the era of big institutions will come to an end
Denise PolliniSchool of Common KnowledgeSituated OrganizationsMSU ZagrebModerna galerijaZRC SAZU -
Dispatch: A Buriti Tree
Lucas PrettiSchool of Common KnowledgeMSU ZagrebModerna galerijaZRC SAZUSituated Organizations -
Dispatch: To whom it may concern – the voice of the censor and re-calibrating words as an act of survival
AnonymousSchool of Common KnowledgeSituated OrganizationsMSU ZagrebModerna galerijaZRC SAZU -
Rethinking Comradeship from a Feminist Position
Leonida KovačSchool of Common KnowledgeSituated OrganizationsMSU ZagrebModerna galerijaZRC SAZU -
Reading list - Summer School: Our Many Easts
Summer School - Our Many EastsPast in the PresentModerna galerija