Prague - On Thursday morning, theatre practitioners marched through the streets of Prague to protest. With slogans such as "Malfunction affected your City Council" they arrived outside the City Hall to hand over a petition signed by more than thirteen thousand people.
The demonstration to oppose the proposed new systems of art grants, theatre tickets subsidies and transformation of the theatres in Prague was called for half past eight in the morning. The first result came quickly: the City Hall decided to give priority to the discussions about the grants and changed the original order of business.
There was even a vote on the petition but through the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) majority both the suggestions and the demands in the petition were rejected. The party clubs of the Greens and the European Democrats were also unsuccessful when trying to make Prague City authorities re-evaluate their policy on grants.
"Remove Richter and Pecha"
The petition blames the ODS Councillor responsible for Culture, Milan Richter, for the current controversy and asks for his removal. Earlier, Richter spoke in the discussion defending "his" new system as "fair" while the gallery was heckling and asking for his resignation. The petition also asks for dismissal of Ondřej Pecha who heads the Culture Committee.
"Councillors, take care, or you might have another scandal similar to that of the public service Czech TV on your hands," Petr Kratochvíl, owner of Ta Fantastika Theatre, said referring to the December 2000 crisis that led to resignation of the then Czech TV Director General.
"I started a theatre to make a living, not to get in debts. The whole thing is being politicised," Kratochvíl added.
Commercial theatres get subsidy
Kratochvíl's theatre is one of the several commercial stages that should receive the new subsidy on theatre tickets, alongside with Radek Brzobohatý Theatre, Na Jezerce Theatre, Na Fidlovačce Theatre, Broadway Theatre, Theatre Kalich and Mucha Museum.
Kratochvíl also mentioned another conflict with the Prague City Hall that made him start arbitration proceedings:
"I have been involved in the culture market for sixteen years. We don't need subsidies and I am not ashamed of that. I am only ashamed that the market forces are undermined by subsidies worth nine and more million CZK given, for instance, to Fidlovačka theatre."
Ignoring people´s demands
Václav Petrmichl, a lawyer and a leading member of the Petition Committee, said Prague authorities both ignore and don't know theatre people's demands.
"I thought the Councillors represent citizens rather than their own interests. I also thought their decisions would be transparent, moral and audacious instead of cowardly."
Besides, Milan Richter dismissal on one hand and calling a halt to the ill-prepared transformation and a speedy solution to the situation of endangered theatres on the other hand, the organizers of the demonstration demand the separation of support for the non-for-profit culture sector from that for the "culture business enterprise", and abolition of the intended blanket ticket subsidy.
Some people, representing commercial theatres, took part who were against the aims of the demonstration. "Our goal is to prevent a one-sided result of this event, as the one-sided approach is not possible," they claimed.
On the question of subsidies those opposing the petition said: "These, on the other hand, we consider the only transparent and fair judgment on success in culture in this country."
Well defined rules needed
The only area they agreed on with the demonstration's organizers was the demand to start talking about financing culture on the highest level and to find solutions giving the system well defined rules.
But there their agreement ends.
"We'd like to suggest to theatre practitioners who don't like the new system of subsidizing individual ticket to go and ask at the Supreme Audit Office or at the Office for the Protection of Competition - and they will find out the system of subsidies they are promoting contradicts both the Czech legal system and EU rules."
On Wednesday, Prague Social Democrats and Greens issued a statement supporting the demands as formulated in the petition.
According to some of those taking part, there were several organized attempts to undermine the demonstration against the change in financing theatre in Prague.
One of the drama students reports a group of young teenagers with pre-painted slogans mocking the petition and those organizing it. He claims that when confronted, the members of the group said they were paid by hour just to be present with the anti-demonstration slogans.
Another source talked about a group of threatening looking young men who by their body language were giving all the signs of somebody looking for fight and waiting for a slightest provocation to start a brawl."
