Directors of Slovakia’s National Gallery and National Theater Fired: ‘It Was Like a Fascist Declaration’

Slovakia’s culture ministry announced on Wednesday that it has sacked Alexandra Kusá, the general director of the country’s National Gallery (SNG), for “several managerial failures.” The ministry also said that because Kusá is the daughter of Martin Kusý, the architect responsible for refurbishing the SNG, she had a “conflict of interests.”

“[The fact she is related to Martin Kusý] was already known before Alexandra Kusá was appointed director of the SNG [in 2010],” the ministry said in a statement. “The current management is of the opinion that, due to family connections, Alexandra Kusá should not have been appointed to this post.”

Kusá’s dismissal follows the sacking of Matej Drlička, who was the head of Slovakia’s National Theater, on Tuesday.

Kusá, however, told ARTnews that the culture ministry’s reasons for axing her are “fabricated.”

“There are some very vague reasons [for my sacking], most of them are fabricated, I don’t even bother to read them… it makes me sick,” she said. “We are newly reconstructed, newly open, [we have the] biggest budget, we’ve never had so many visitors… we are a very vivid institution. Maybe that’s the problem!”

Kusá added, “I was not surprised at all that I was sacked because I knew that the culture ministry’s work and our work is very different, so it was only a matter of time. This kind of thing is not only happening in Slovakia. It’s about non-compatibility between the new culture ministry and how we work and feel.”

In October of last year, Robert Fico’s populist left-wing Smer-SSD party won parliamentary elections in Slovakia and formed a coalition government with the center-left Hlas and nationalist SNS parties. Fico has since halted Slovakian aid to Ukraine but denies being pro-Russia.

Martina Šimkovičová, a TV presenter who has mocked refugees on social media and openly criticized homosexuals, was appointed culture minister.

Drlička said he learned of his dismissal at home on Tuesday.

“I was in my bathtub early in the morning, the doorbell rang, and there was an officer from the HR department with two big guys, I thought they were security guards, but I later learned they were from the legal department,” Drlička told ARTnews. “They delivered my dismissal but I told them I wasn’t going to take it, this is not how it should happen, but they told me I was dismissed – I said ‘thank you’ – and they wished me a nice day.”

He said that he hasn’t been given a reason for his sacking, neither has he been contacted by Šimkovičová “The culture ministry said in press releases that the culture minister doesn’t agree with what the theater did… and is very nervous about how I am managing in this area, etc, etc,” he explained.

When asked if he might have done something to upset the culture ministry, Drlička said that in 2022 at a conference in Budapest he made an “inappropriate comment that was trying to be funny, but wasn’t funny.” He said it was taken out of context and “sounded like I wished [certain] politicians were dead.”

Someone reported him and he subsequently handed in his resignation as the director of the National Theater, but he was soon reappointed. “Šimkovičová is again using this case as a reason for my dismissal but I’ve already paid my penalty for it.”

Drlička said that as soon as Šimkovičová was appointed “we realized we were entering a new culture war.” He said her first statement was that “from now on, the culture will be Slovak and Slovak only, no mixing.”

“It was like a fascist declaration,” Drlička told ARTnews. “We had very bold and brave programing in the drama department, but after every premier, we received a lot of hatred. It was obvious that I would go down.” He said he was been targeted by online trolls.

Drlička and Kusá have been defiant in their dismissals, addressing the media together outside the SNG on Wednesday.

Employees from their respective institutions have joined the two former directors in criticizing Slovakia’s nationalistic coalition government for stifling institutional independence.

The SNG released a statement on Wednesday. It said, “The staff… stands firmly behind Alexandra Kusá, recognizing the immense effort, time, expertise, humanity, innovative vision, and at times, superhuman dedication she has invested in building a national cultural institution that truly understands the real meaning and value of the words ‘national,’ ‘culture,’ and ‘institution.’”

Kusá told ARTnews that Branislav Panis, the director of the Slovak National Museum, was likely next on the chopping board. “He’s on holiday in Croatia at the moment, but Slovak law dictates that you can’t be sacked while on vacation.”