Collective mourning over the loss of the Kunsthalle

Dear students, academia, employees,

As of March 31, 2024, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic is canceling the only public institution in Slovakia focused on contemporary art, the Kunsthalle Bratislava, after 3 years of existence. The Ministry decided to dismiss its staff, not to implement the Kunsthalle program planned for 2024, and to merge it with the Slovak National Gallery by delimitation.

 

On Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 3:00 p.m., the Kunsthalle Bratislava is organizing a public review of its operations, a presentation of the efficient management to date and the extensive program that was realized during 2023 in cooperation with renowned domestic and international artists and curation.

 

University of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava together with Open Culture! on the occasion of the public reading, the Kunsthalle Bratislava initiates a happening of collective mourning over the loss, which will take place in the A Window exhibition space. We invite the artistic community, but also the general public, to take part in the happening, for example by dressing in black and symbolically bringing candles, wreaths, flowers and their memories of exhibitions in the Kunsthalle. By pasting links on the glass of the A Window space, we materialize the importance of the Kunsthalle Bratislava for Slovak society. You can freely personify the mourning ritual, with props or a concept as you imagine it yourself. This imaginary prison is a cathartic space where we can share each and everyone's lonely grief together. There are no limits to pathos or imagination.

Program:

  • 15:00 - public review of Kunsthalle Bratislava operations
  • 15:00 - 18:30 - collective mourning over the loss of the Kunsthalle
  • 16:00 - 18:30 - public reading and concert
  • 18:30 - final march to the Ministry of Culture with the remains of the Kunsthalle