CALL AGAINST ZERO WAGE

To the representatives of cultural organizations operated by state, region, or city as well as the centers of contemporary art financed from the public budget:

We wish to point out the lack of willingness on the part of art institutions to pay fees to artists and other cultural producers (e.g., free-lance curators). In this call we address the consequences of such a behavior and we call on you to change your approach towards those without whom you could not realize the cultural program - the reason the institution exists in the first place.

If you don't pay artists and curators fees (not mentioning the fact that in some cases you don't contribute to the production of the work or program), it is a sign of a lack of respect towards the cultural producer and the hours, days, or months of work that resulted in an art exhibition or another form of cultural program. You thus refuse to take the responsibility for the living conditions of the cultural producer, whose work legitimizes your existence. You leave it to to others – the author himself/herself, the art community, family members or the commercial sphere. However, you do pay your employees as well as all the others who participate in the project/exhibition (graphic designers, gallery guards and all the other services providers). Why are the artists (and sometimes also the curators) the only people from the long chain of service providers who do not get any honorarium? Without them you would not be able to fulfill the specific role of a gallery funded from the public budget, the exhibition space would remain empty. The activity of the institution depends on the existence of a thriving artistic scene, it should therefore consider the living conditions of those who are part of it.

Perhaps you think that by exhibiting an artwork you contribute to its author's visibility and in this way you raise the value of his work in the market and this should be his or her reward. If this is the case, we would like to point out that art galleries and museums have been since the beginning a part of the public space. They strive for social relevancy that is not exhausted by the tax paid when an art work is sold. As do other parts of the public sphere, also art requires institutional structure for creation, presentation and critical reception. It should be taken for granted that all the activities involved in creation, presentation and reception of art in galleries funded by public finance are taken into account and allocated in the budget dedicated to manage these institutions.

Galleries are not advertising spaces supposed to provide the artists with commercial “rating” for the tax-payers' money. The artist or cultural producer is not a businessman who invests into an uncertain future. His or her work is the reason people visit the institution no matter what happens with it in the future. You take the advantage of that there is an endless line of artists who are willing to believe in the promise of a symbolic or financial gain and fill your exhibition space on credit.

It is also necessary to consider that art has transformed itself in the recent years and so did the art institution. The artist does not create artefacts in the privacy of his/her studio. Today, it is the institution that stimulates artistic practice through a curator's assignment. Some works exist only in the space and time of an exhibition, in the communication with the audience and are therefore difficult if not impossible to sell. Czech institutions have to come to terms with this tendency of art and not be passively aggressive lacking interest and understanding.

The artist and curator should be an equal partner and the financial and other conditions of the project should be transparent and stated beforehand.

You could object that that in the times of austerity measures the budget is limited. However, also when it was not so limited, you did not act very differently. It is precisely in the times of crisis that it becomes clear that gallery institutions should reconsider their priorities and stop exploiting the enthusiasm of artists, curators, and the structures they have created. It is time to actually support art and not only provide it with a temporary exhibition space.

Hynek Alt, artist

Zbyněk Baladrán, artist

Jan Haubelt, artist

Vít Havránek, curator

Václav Magid, artist and curator

Pavla Sceranková, artist

Jiří Skála, artist

Jakub Stejskal, theoretician

Tereza Stejskalová, curator

Pavel Sterec, artist

Tomáš Svoboda, artist

Jiří Thýn, artist

Aleksandra Vajd, artist

Dušan Zahoranský, artist and curator

The call is supported by:


MgA. Emil Adamec, sculptor and architect
Ana de Almeida, artist
Corina L. Apostol, art historian and curator
Tomáš Arnot, student of Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University in Brno
Vasil Artamonov, teacher
Richard Augustin, artist
Daniela Baráčková, artist
Ludvík Ballon, coordinator
Michala Frank Barnová, art historian and art critic
Vojtěch Bárta, dramaturge
Jana Beránková, writer and columnist 
Jan Bělíček, editor, columnist and musician
Kateřina Bílková, student FAMU CAS
Josef Bolf, artist
Filomena Borecká, artist, teacher, member of Open Europa platform
Petr Bosák, graphic designer
Marsha Bradfield - artist, curator, educator, writer and researcher
Radek Brousil, artist
Jan Brož, cultural producer
Denisa Bytelová, curator Sam83
Filip Canha, live art performance artist and visual artist
Eva Cihlářová, student of Pedagogical Faculty, Charles University, Prague
Chto Delat art collective
Lenka Daňhelová, poet and translator
Alberto Di Stefano - FUTURA o.s., Karlin Studios o.s.
Daniela Deutelbaum, artist and gallerist (m.odla)
Milena Dolečková, artist, dancer
Klára Doležálková, graduate of FaVU, Brno and student of FAMU, Prague
Matouš Erban, architect
Hana Felklová, A2 cultural biweekly
Svetlana Fialová, artist
Jessica Feldman, artist, Media Studies, The New School
Petr Fiedor, stuntman

Lena Fisher, artist
Marta Fišerová, student of  FaVU, Brno
Barbora Flastrová, Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague
Vojtěch Fröhlich, artist and student of Academy of Fine Arts in Prague

Ladislava Gažiová, artist
Frederico Geller, artist
Jan Gruber, student of Faculty of Arts Charles University in Prague
Rozálie Hanáková, artist
Petra Herotová, artist
MgA. Josef Hlaváček, artist
Ondřej Hložek, organizer of cultural events focusing on literature and emerging writers
Kryštof Hlůže, student of Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague
BcA. Michal Horáček (Michal Hor), artist
Ondřej Horák, Tranzitdisplay
Anna Hulačová, artist
Pavel Humhal, artist
Boris Jankovec, theoretician and writer
Vladan Jeremic, artist, curator and political activist, Belgrade, Serbia
Edith Jeřábková, curator and teacher at Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague
Tobiáš Jirous, actor, musician, and writer
Eva Jiřička, artist
Adéla Marie Jirků, artist
Ivan Jurica, artist, art teacher
Ivana Kanhäuserová, stage designer
Pavel Kappel, art historian and curator
Katherine Kastner, gallerist
Barbora Kleinhamplová, student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Alexey Klyuykov, artist
MgA. Jana Kochánková, artist
Viktor Kopasz, artist, teacher
Ondřej Kopecký, musician, music producer
Václav Kopecký, photographic laboratory assistant
Pavel Korbička, artist, teacher at Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology
Markéta Korečková, sculptor
Karina Kottová, curator of Meetfactory
Eva Koťátková, artist
Petr Krejčí, sport photographer
Věra Krejčová, editor, curator
Jan Krtička, artist
Peter Kuhar, writer and translator
Karel Kunc, artist
doc. MgA. Věra Kuttelvašerová Stuchelová PhD.
Radim Langer, poet
Ben Laude, pianist
Richard Loskot, artist
Anežka Macháčková, student of Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague
Ján Macko, sculptor
Raul Maia, dancer and choreographer
Petr Metelka, musician, sound engineer, music co-ordinator of Radio 1
Nina Michlovská, art historian, curator of Vitrína Deniska
Vlad Morariu, curator and theoretician (Artleaks)
MgA. Tomáš Moravec, artist 
Pavlína Morganová, theoretician and curator 
Pavel Mrkus, artist, university teacher
Barbora Mrázková, artist
Marita Muukkonen, curator, Perpetuum mobile 
Jan Nálepa, artist, gallerist (3x3 Gallery)
Klára Nejezchlebová, artist
Alice Nikitinová, artist
Michal Novotný - FUTURA o.s., Karlin Studios o.s.
Lucie Patáková, student of Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
Andrea Pekárková, artist and gallerist (3x3 Gallery)
Štěpán Plátek, artist and designer
Alina Popa, Irini Gheorghe (The Bureau of Melodramatic Research)
Lýdia Pribišová, Flash Art Czech and Slovak Edition  
Jiří Příhoda, artist and teacher
Jiří Ptáček, curator
Karel Rada, writer, playwright, musician 
Luděk Rathouský, artist
Rena Raedle, artist, curator, and political activist, Belgrade, Serbia
Eric Rosenzveig, artist, educator, curator (director of CAS FAMU)
Hana Rousová, curator
Hansel Sato, artist and theoretician
Veronika Sellnerová, high school student
Vanda Sepová, curator, Enter Gallery, Bratislava 
Erik Síkora, artist
Konstanze Schmitt, theatermaker and artist
Ludmila Smejkalová, artist
Pavol Smolárik, actor, musician 
Matěj Smrkovský, artist
Sláva Sobotovičová, artist
Société Réaliste, artists
Tereza Sochorová, artist and deisgner
Vojtěch Staněk, editor
Ivor Stodolsky, curator, Perpetuum mobile
doc. M.A. Jan Stolín, artist, teacher, artistic director of Die Aktualität des Schönen gallery in Liberec
Adéla Svobodová, artist and graphic designer
Lenka Sýkorová, curator
Miloš Šejn, artist
Barbora Ševčíková, student
Lucia Škandíková, stage designer
Anna Škopková, copywriter and therapist
Nina Šošková, artist
Johana Švarcová, Artyčok.TV, student of FAMU
Jan Tesař, artist, teacher, gardener
Venuše Tesnerová, production manager, MeetFactory
Julia Tirler, art mediator
Jana Trávničková, student of Faculty of Art and Design, University of West Bohemia
Toy box, comics artist
Katka Tučková, curator and writer
Katarína Uhlířová, curator and teacher
Linda Urbánková, artist
Hynek Vacek, artist
Adam Vačkář, artist
Petra Valentová, artist
Viktorie Valocká, receptionist
Pavel Vančát, curator and theoretician
Petr Vančura, actor
Jaro Varga, artist and gallerist (HIT space in Bratislava)
Jindra Vejvodová, graphic designer
Marcela Vichrová, artist
Tereza Viková, student of Faculty of Pedagogy, Charles University in Prague
Markéta Vinglerová, curator of the etc. gallery, teacher at Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague
Jana Vojnárová, artist
Marie Vránová, artist, graphic designer, teacher
Paul Werner, publisher (The Orange Press) and editor (WOID, a journal of visual language)
Working Artist and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.), Brooklyn, USA, www.wageforwork.com
Aleksandrina Yordanova, student umění
František Zachoval,  co-founder of the Artyčok.TV platform

(If you would like to support our call, please write 

your name and profession to 

vyzvaprotinulovemzde@gmail.com)