Cultural workers establish the Cultural and Creative Federation

On the evening of Friday, 3 November 2023, the Stone Bell House in Prague opened its doors to a few dozen cultural workers. In attendance were directors of non-profit organizations, actors and actresses, and representatives of individual professional art associations, among them the Spolek Skutek, the Czech Writers Association, and the Association of Dance Artists of the Czech Republic.

This was the first time that all these cultural spheres came together, along with representatives of the non-profit cultural sector, a few representatives of developing culture, employees of Kreativní Praha (Creative Prague), as well as individual artists; everyone wanting to discuss the founding of the new platform. Some five dozen people came and together adopted the up-and-coming organization’s articles of incorporation. They then elected the members of the first, preliminary board as well as the presiding “president” – this position fell to Jakub Bakule, the convener, cultural manager, and co-author of the National Cultural Policy of the Czech Republic 2021–2025, with whom we have recently published an interview.

Further elected members of the board include cultural manager Václav Blahout (specialist in the development of cultural and creative sectors in the Karlovy Vary region), theater producer Anna Hořejší (director of the z. ú. České Budějovice – European Capital of Culture 2028), poet Ondřej Lipár (member of the Czech Writers Association), and dancer Linda Svidró (chairwoman of the Association of Dance Artists). Their term in office has been set until the next proper membership meeting, which ought to take place 3-4 months after the organization’s establishment, opening a bank account, and other obligatory administrative actions that the new federation needs for its operations. The first board is thus responsible for getting the platform “off the ground” and communicating both publicly and internally. A notable idea that emerged during the founding session is that the platform ought to be as active as possible in the regions.

One important aspect is how membership will be set up: it is currently possible to become a member as an entire organization, an association, a professional association, or a non-profit organization working in the field of cultural production. But individual persons can also become members. In the articles of association, the “strength” of the vote is incremental, based on how many people the person is representing: a cultural institution and non-governmental organization of up to 50 “employees” is entitled to 20 votes, and above 50 employees, it gets 40. A professional association is even entitled to 100 votes. A single individual’s vote counts as one. The gradation of votes is then reflected in the plan of membership fees: from 200 CZK per year per individual to 5000 CZK for institutions with over 50 employees.

The new platform’s objective is to foster discussion about the priorities of the cultural sector and the means by which they can be carried over to the political sphere. It is in this sense a platform for interdisciplinary communication, which has so far been sporadic, making it difficult to achieve any demands. Its main activities ought to consist of lobbying, which is why the organization wants to be a partner for the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. And that is also very useful at this particular time, when it is necessary to push through a new law on the statutory position of the artist, which the Ministry is currently preparing.

It was this law that provided the impulse for the meeting of the groups involved in the formation of this platform. The various actors who met at the June demonstration (2023), which took place in front of the Ministry of Culture, to a degree overlap with the founders of the Cultural and Creative Federation who, just a few weeks ago, sent the Minister of Culture an open letter wherein the undersigned expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of discussion regarding this important law/amendment, as well as with the way the Ministry has been communicating it to cultural professionals. Minister of Culture Martin Baxa replied with a letter in which he tried to say as little as possible, merely reiterating what had already been said:

“The work conceptions and the partial impetus which this group [i.e. Group of representatives for the initial findings, note by AB] has confirmed were further developed at the level of the top directorships and the directorship of the relevant administrative bodies, as well as consulted with The Ministry of Finance, The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. These particularly involved consultations related to the proposal for the amendment of law no. 203/2006, Code of Law, where the proposed amendments engage with the sphere of so-called stipends, exceptional support, the tax framework, the catalog of occupations and the catalog of risks for active artists, as well as possibilities of the wider use of structural funds and the support of re-qualification and other means of further education.”

The new organization’s members expect a more constructive dialog with the Ministry of Culture, as it has so far remained unclear who really represents the interests of the cultural workers – including both the employees of state, regional or private cultural institutions, as well as freelancers (OSVČ) – and who has the mandate to bring together the individual professional organizations. The creation of the category of statutory artist will be the first trial to test the viability of this new federation.

Photos: Nela Wojaczková