Andrej Dubravsky is one of Slovakia’s most successful artists.
These days, he’s painting a lot of caterpillars.
This is the ugliest painting I’ve ever made.
He’s also painting bees – lots of bees.
And men – sometimes wearing nothing, or kissing other men.
I don’t remember now if you could see their genitals,
but I don’t think so.
But the painting outraged them.
They posted it on social media and said,
“Look what’s being shown at the Slovak Public Radio’s exhibition.
Children can see this!
This is terrible!”
That’s how it all began.
'They' are members of the far-right SNS, the Slovak National Party.
In language reminiscent of Nazi Germany, one member called
Andrej Dubravsky’s art 'degenerate'. The problem, Dubravsky says,
is that the SNS is in government.
It’s unacceptable, says acclaimed writer Michal Hvorecky.
He’s especially critical of Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova.
Our representative for culture and the media, our culture minister,
is a neo-fascist.
She's a former television presenter who lost her job
over her racist remarks on national news.
This is why Hvorecky and other cultural figures have launched
a petition calling for the minister's resignation.
Over 190,000 have signed – a record in Slovakia.
But the minister refuses to resign.
Discrimination, attacks on minorities, sowing deeper division –
not just in the cultural scene, but in the society as a whole.
Vicious attacks on minorities, especially the LGBTQ+ community,
and on Romani people, too.
And on NGOs in general, which she calls 'foreign agents'.
And so on and so on.
We reached out repeatedly for an interview but received
no response from the ministry.
However, Minister Simkovicova declared on Facebook that she
does not intend to continue supporting LGBTQ projects:
What she calls a 'return to normality'.
We traveled to the ministry in Bratislava and tried
several more times to reach someone.
No answer – we were sent to voicemail.
But culture is only one area affected by the radical
policy shift of Robert Fico's new populist government.
He was in power six years ago as well, but his government collapsed
amid rumors of corruption, organized crime, and murder.
Investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was
researching the story at the time.
On February 21, 2018, he and his girlfriend were murdered
by hired killers.
On the anniversary of their deaths, we met their parents at the memorial.
What's happening here in Slovakia now is terrible.
It's appalling how oblivious people are.
And they are the ones who voted for Robert Fico's fourth government.
I can’t understand why the people elected
this government after everything that’s happened.
I think it’s known who ordered the murder,
he just hasn’t been convicted.
I have no doubt about it.
The person who allegedly ordered the murder has been acquitted twice.
He has good friends in top political circles.
His lawyer is now one of Fico’s advisors.
They are pushing through very harsh laws — basically
changing the justice system, or the criminal system and the penal code,
which will favor many of their appointees from the past
who are now under investigation.
Back to the country’s cultural scene: The minister has now closed
the Bratislava art gallery because it hosted LGBTQ-themed events.
All employees were fired.
Andrej Dubravsky is openly gay, and has been targeted for it.
We artists can survive this, but what about these other platforms
for queer people, or that are there for people to come together?
Because the most important thing about culture is meeting
other people in the community.
That’s what drives him to take to the streets,
along with tens of thousands of others across Slovakia
who demonstrate weekly against Robert Fico’s government.
I go to all the protests when I’m in Bratislava.
It’s the least I can do in this situation.
I would be very happy if our Slovakian society remained
democratic so that it does not slip into an autocracy.
Rage.
I feel rage.
And ultimately despair.
It feels like there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it.
We try to change things, but it's like our hands are tied.
For now, the government seems to be firmly in charge,
despite the protests.
And Slovakia is threatening to become Europe’s next problem child.