During the ceremonial opening of the Fruits of Discord exhibition at SNG, people turned back to temporarily appointed SNG director Jaroslav Niňaj. (source: FB Slobodná Národná Galéria)
During the opening of the “Fruits of Discord” exhibition at the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) in early December, people turned their backs on the temporarily appointed director Jaroslav Niňaj while he spoke, as a sign of disapproval of the current situation in the gallery. In response, four SNG employees were given “warnings for breach of work discipline”.
The display, subtitled “Portraying the Ottoman Presence”, presents the results of a six-year research project by a trio of curators. Denis Haberland, Martin Čičo and Jana Švantnerová focused on the period of Hungarian-Ottoman relations in the 16th and 17th centuries and how the Ottoman presence manifested itself in the culture and art of Central Europe.
The opening of the exhibition was preceded by a tense atmosphere. Just a few days before the opening, the gallery ended up with its third interim director, Jaroslav Niňaj. He came in person to introduce the exhibition. The gallery staff turned their backs during his speech as a sign of disapproval with the current situation.
“We cannot stand idly by and watch the gradual destruction of an emblematic institution,” Gabriela Kisová, the curatorial manager who led the opening, announced on behalf of the staff, the Denník N daily reported.
The gallery staff was joined by a large audience.
In response, four SNG employees, Jana Švantnerová, Gabriela Kisová, Denis Haberland and Zuzana Dzurdzíková, were given “warnings for breach of work discipline”. In a written warning posted on the Free National Gallery’s Instagram platform, Niňaj accuses them of violating both law and the SNG’s internal regulations.
“I assess your behaviour as unprofessional, dubious, unethical and capable of directly damaging the reputation of an emblematic organisation such as the SNG,” Niňaj wrote in the warning.
A senior curator demands a warning for himself, too
Dušan Buran, senior curator of the SNG, in response has called on Niňaj to issue him a warning, too.
“I fully identify with the speeches of my colleagues,” he wrote in an open letter as cited by Denník N, wondering whether the warning given to four SNG employees was not intended as an attempt to intimidate.
“Enforced authority is a sign of weakness and will never secure you respect among SNG employees,” Buran wrote to Niňaj.
Buran supports the protest against the appointment of incompetent persons to SNG management and “I strongly define myself against your interpretation that the appointed employees at the opening were spreading their private views.”
Already several senior employees have left the SNG. Alexandra Homoľová, deputy director general of the SNG who worked for the gallery 28 years, left after she was offered the position of general curator by the new gallery management. She declined. In response to Anton Bittner’s assignment to lead the SNG in August, the curator Katarína Bajcurová, who had been the gallery’s director until 2010, also resigned, having worked at the SNG for 30 years.
Bittner was dismissed from his position as the SNG’s director on September 30, as Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová of the far-right Slovak National Party appointed him as the interim head of the Slovak National Museum.
The situation in the gallery did not abate even after his departure. Even the appointment of Niňaj as head at the end of November did not contribute to the abatement. In a few months he was the third statutory director of this institution.
The very first meeting was, according to the SNG’s senior staff, “full of intimidation, threats and investigations”.
Kusá is leaving SNG
After the change of the organisational structure introduced by Niňaj, the position of former SNG director and curator Alexandra Kusá ceased to exist. Kusá has not accepted offers for a new position and is leaving. Niňaj offered her a position as a carpenter, electrician or chief accountant, she told the Sme daily.
“My notice period expires at the end of March, so my first day without the SNG is April 1,” Kusá said, adding that she feels like she is in an absurd movie.
Alexandra Kusá (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
Niňaj spoke about the necessity of Kusá’s departure at the first meeting in late November, according to the SNG’s senior staff.
Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová dismissed Kusá from her position as director of the Slovak National Gallery on August 7. She remained working as a curator at the gallery.
With the new organisational structure, a total of eight jobs at SNG are being abolished, Niňaj explaining the move with consolidation. However, the structure envisages the creation of 14 new jobs next year, the Sme daily noted.
“It seems that since the directors in charge came in, their only main theme has been to enforce the SNG’s new organisational structure,” the Sme daily cites SNG employees. “On the basis of instructions from the Culture Ministry, consolidation processes have been carried out in order to optimise the wage fund in accordance with the budget for 2025. Twenty employees have had their employment terminated for this reason.”
