SRK's statement on the activities of art academies

Art academies are an inseparable and stable part of our academic environment. Thousands of their graduates, as well as most members of the teaching staff, during the previous decades co-created our cultural heritage and spread and preserved its values, which are important for the entire society. Currently, many of them are actively working in the field of art, culture and creative industry in Slovakia and in the international context, and they bring demonstrable results for our country.

Cultural institutions are strategic partners of art academies and important supporters of their educational, artistic and scientific research activities. Artistic works or performances, as well as scientific, research and publication outputs with the participation of teachers and students of these schools can be successfully realized only in such an environment that has secured conditions for its long-term sustainable development.

The Slovak Rectors' Conference views with concern a number of decisions and statements by politicians that may question the content-independent status of cultural institutions, disrupt the systemic funding of artistic and cultural projects and thus seriously threaten the professional activities of organizations, groups or individuals in the entire culture and creative industry. The ongoing structural changes in this area can also significantly limit the sustainability and quality of the development processes of art education in Slovakia, which will have a direct negative impact on its successful functioning so far.

We consider the joint efforts of our art academies for a democratic and well-managed environment of art and culture in Slovakia to be legitimate and their professional requirements in this area to be justified and reasonable. Therefore, we support the offer of art academies to provide their academic grounds for a professional and open discussion on current issues of art and culture in Slovakia.

At the same time, the Slovak Rector's Conference expresses support for a pluralistic spectrum of opinions, which naturally also co-creates the activities of art academies.

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