Fully Funded Residencies stands in solidarity with the workers of the Trade Union of PinchukArtCentre.
Since we are a group of practitioners who are confronted with precariousness, cultural projectariat, and various forms of discrimination, we are actively sharing knowledge, providing access to fair working conditions and encouraging independence.
FFR interviewed Björn Geldhof, artistic director of PinchukArtCentre (PAC), in December 2019 about the Future Generation Art Prize. Shortly afterwards, PAC Trade Union's statement revealed the working situation at PinchukArtCentre.
To put the interview into a broader context, we decided to provide a platform for the Trade Union of PAC as well. We asked them to reflect on the interview with B. Geldhof and to define possible future scenarios.
FFR: Do you have any comments on any part of the interview between FFR and Björn Geldhof about FGAP?
TU: We prefer to refrain from any comments on the interview. In this case, we are guided by the idea that commenting something implies legitimizing it. Furthermore, we are not in any position to pass judgment on it. For an alternative or additional point of view on Future Generation Art Prize and PinchukArtCentre Prize, we suggest reading the Facebook post of Valentina Petrova, contemporary Ukrainian artist. She was one of the nominees who withdrew their participation in the PAC Prize competition in a gesture of solidarity with the Trade Union. The first nominated artist to do so was Pavel Grazhdanskyi. From our side, we would like to note that it is not uncommon for a position of power (we mean a leading or unique position in a particular sphere, for example) to foster the culture of impunity and permissiveness. |
FFR: What kind of support did you receive after publishing the statement?
TU: We received a lot of support before and after we published the statement.
First of all, having written and published it in English, we hoped to receive support and solidarity from the international art community. This hope was fulfilled. Even prior to the publication of the statement, the situation drew the attention of the public, thanks to respectable art magazines like e-flux, Art Newspaper and Art Forum.
We received support from our Polish colleagues, the representatives of the Trade Union Inicjatywa Pracownicza (The Workers’ Initiative Trade Union) at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art. They supported us in many ways, including sharing information about us within the Polish art community, publishing our statement in Polish translation and expressing solidarity and support with the Trade Union. Thanks to their efforts, a number of Polish art institutions pledged their support to us in the general meeting of the Commission of the Polish Trade Union “Workers' Initiative” (Komisje OZZ „Inicjatywa Pracownicza”) held on March 9th, 2020 in Warsaw.
Furthermore, we keep in touch with representatives of the Russian art community. There is an ongoing discussion on the issue of precarious employment. This issue is common for us and we are looking for ways to solve it. As a sign of support, soon our statement will be published in Russian on the independent platform syg.ma.
We are grateful for support within the Ukrainian community. Besides many others, the journal of social criticism “ Commons” and “Political critique” (Політична критика) supported us since the very beginning of our campaign. Last but not least, we wish to note the help of representatives of our paternal organization (All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs). It is thanks to their efforts that our situation became known on the highest level. It was referred to as an example of the misuse of fixed-term agreements at the Ukrainian parliament (Верховна Рада) sessions . All these cases allowed us to see our situation in a broader context of the precariousness of the art sphere worldwide and gave us a chance to reflect on our case in the context of today's challenges in the labor market.
FFR: Are you receiving pro bono legal assistance?
TU: We are supported by the paternal Trade Union. Currently, we are trying to design a program of future actions, supported by them and their partners.
FFR: What were your expectations when the statement was published?
TU: We were expecting representatives of PinchukArtCentre to convey a public apology for unethical treatment of their employees and to start the process of negotiation on a collective agreement that would give an official and sound legal instrument to all employees of PinchukArtCentre to protect themselves and to prevent any recurrent mass dismissals. Instead, they ignored our official letters and stoutly persisted in denying the violations 9 of the rights of employees. They suggested that we take part in a working group “aimed at rethinking audience interaction”. We refused because it had nothing to do with an official dialogue about the protection of the labor rights of employees. FFR: Can you think of any predictable or imaginable outcome of your actions? What could that be? What are the dismissed workers’ expectations? TU: In the current situation, there's a danger that this case will soon be forgotten. As a trade union, we will continue our attempts to provide a collective agreement for PinchukArtCentre employees and to create conditions for the existence of the Trade Union within the center. |
It is crucial to protect future generations of employees. It is crucial to show that a struggle for dignity and protection of one's rightscan be successful. As a group of dismissed workers who refer to themselves as PACiuky (pa-tsiu-ký) and call to boycott PinchukArtCentre, we need to think about our future. In the context of forecasts of global economic crisis, substantial cultural funding cuts and other multiple issues in the Ukrainian cultural sphere, our future is quite unclear. One thing is clear though: we will not give up. We need to work to prevent precariousness, to face new challenges related to the situation on the labor market. We are a future generation and we are the ones responsible for our own future.
FFR: What do you as a Trade Union of PAC want to say to the future participating artists at Pinchuk Art Centre and Future Generation Art Prize?
TU: We want to warn them to be careful in terms of legal aspects, to get in touch with previous nominees, to become aware of all the details that are invisible at first glance and to remember the criticism of Hito Steyerl.
Taking this opportunity, we would like to thank the PAC Prize 2020 nominees who withdrew themselves from the final stage of the prize competition, Valentina Petrova and Pavel Grazhdanskyi. Their decisions were acts of solidarity with the Trade Union. It is hard to put in words how meaningful such decisions are within the Ukrainian art sphere. We are eternally grateful to them for this act of support.
FFR: What do you as a Trade Union of PAC want to say to the future participating artists at Pinchuk Art Centre and Future Generation Art Prize?
TU: We want to warn them to be careful in terms of legal aspects, to get in touch with previous nominees, to become aware of all the details that are invisible at first glance and to remember the criticism of Hito Steyerl.
Taking this opportunity, we would like to thank the PAC Prize 2020 nominees who withdrew themselves from the final stage of the prize competition, Valentina Petrova and Pavel Grazhdanskyi. Their decisions were acts of solidarity with the Trade Union. It is hard to put in words how meaningful such decisions are within the Ukrainian art sphere. We are eternally grateful to them for this act of support.
Interview with:
Trade Union of PinchukArtCentre
By FFR team
Edited by Rebecca A. Layton
Photographs courtesy of Trade Union of PinchukArtCentre
Trade Union of PinchukArtCentre
By FFR team
Edited by Rebecca A. Layton
Photographs courtesy of Trade Union of PinchukArtCentre