Czech writer Anna Štičková studied literature and creative writing, then went on to complete a master's degree in management in culture at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno. Currently, she is working on her PhD studies on the book market, small publishers and book professionals. She worked at the publishing house Nová beseda. She co-founded the Association of Small Publishers and Booksellers and is active in the Association of Writers. On the basis of her research internship in Israel, sponsored by the Czech Center Tel Aviv, the Israeli Professional Visual Artist Association organized a discussion with her on the topics of the status of the artist, cultural policy and cooperation with local governments.
How did it happen that representatives of the Tel Aviv cultural community invited you to a round table on cultural policy?
The invitation came thanks to our cooperation with the Czech Centre. I spent several weeks of my PhD internship in Israel researching cultural policy, book publishing and the independent literary scene. The Czech Center sponsored this internship. As part of my research, I also tried to look for ways to translate Czech books into Hebrew, opportunities for Czech authors to attend literary events in Israel, etc. All these activities are part of cultural diplomacy and, by extension, cultural policy. In Israel - as elsewhere - there is a discussion about how to better provide for artistic work, more dignified honoraria and so on. On this basis, together with the director Jan Štern, we were invited to discuss how we in the Czech Republic and in Europe in general conceive of the issue of the status of the artist.
So what was the topic of the meeting?
Apart from the aforementioned working conditions of artists (especially visual artists) and the status of the artist, it was cultural policy in general, its principles and mechanisms, or how and through which levels of local governments to enforce the necessary measures. So we discussed the possibilities of cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, but also with town halls, what are effective solutions and where the road does not lead. One of the clear findings was the need for artists to associate and cooperate with each other. As an individual or small group it is much harder to achieve change, so we also consulted on the importance of associations and professional bodies. All these topics are the subject of my dissertation, and I am also involved in cultural policy professionally, although my background is in literature, the principles of visual arts and literature and other cultural policies are very close.
What were your interlocutors most interested in?
First of all, the situation in our country in terms of remuneration of visual artists, the system of support for galleries and individual artists. And also the forthcoming legislation on the status of the artist and the approaches that our legislation leans towards among the possible solutions. We also discussed various measures across Europe, whether it was the royalty schedules in Austria or the definition of cultural professional in Portugal.
What is the situation in Israel compared to the Czech Republic and Europe?
Israel is not part of international networks such as Creative Europe or the EEA and Norway Grants, which is what we are used to here, and to some extent we rely on the fact that part of the culture is financed through cooperation and projects from these networks. This leads the Israeli cultural scene to try harder to change the situation from within and to create pressure at the national and regional level. Currently, local artists are also under pressure from various initiatives calling for the censorship and rejection of Israeli art in the world. Their situation is therefore much more complex and now hardly comparable. However, it is obvious that they are much further ahead than us in promoting some of their interests - especially at the level of the city of Tel Aviv, where the cultural scene is most vibrant.
