PHOTO/VIDEO Protest on the stairs of the Bucharest National Theatre: “I am an artist, I create freely, not on a fixed schedule” / Last-minute decision of the Minister of Culture
Dozens of actors and employees of the National Theater in Bucharest are protesting, on Tuesday, after the Ministry of Culture proposed the normalization of working time for artists. They display messages like “I'm an artist, I create freely, not on a fixed schedule” or “Coercion and submission kill freedom of expression.” The Minister of Culture, András Demeter, also came to the demonstration, who announced that he was withdrawing the pilot project, but “fundamental problems will remain”.
“I'm going to the ministry, but… The circular will have to be replaced with something anyway, because the problem remains even if we put it under the rug. I'm referring to the fact that it exists and will exist as long as we work eight hours a day, there will be a need to provide proof of the fact that we work even when we're not in the institution,” András Demeter told journalists.
The project would mean “a decline of our profession. Instead of thinking about your role, being creative, you have to think about the eight hours, you have, you don't have a job. Things are going crazy. I don't know why the Minister of Culture doesn't get more involved. Our profession is a free one, we are free and creative”, said the manager of the Romanian Playwrights Theatre, Gabriel Fătu.
And the actress Ada Galeș claims that “the proposal makes no sense” and says that “it does not take into account the specifics of our job”.
Actors and employees protest on the steps in front of the theater. Among them are Medea Marinescu, Mihai Călin, Ada Galeș, Alexandru Papadopol, Istvan Teglas, Aurelian Timișan or Cristi Iacob.
The demonstration was announced on Monday, after the Minister of Culture said that he wanted to regulate the work of artists. The artists from TNB reacted, protesting on Tuesday with placards in front of the institution.
The Minister of Culture withdraws the project
Culture Minister András Demeter withdraws the pilot project that was supposed to regulate the work of artists and impose daily attendance for actors. “We are withdrawing the proposal of our colleagues and thank them for all the effort they put into it after 2 months of work. We are still working until we find a form,” Minister András Demeter said a few moments ago.
He claimed, however, that the project “is nothing new”.
“These instructions do not affect what was performed in excess. The problem is related to the hours that are in the red. And these instructions come with some solutions so that there is no one in the red. That is the situation,” said Demeter.
Asked if there are theaters where the working hours of artists or staff are less than those provided by law, he replied: “In any theater, in any institution. No matter what you do. The regularity with which you can program a title, regardless of whether it's an opera, a ballet, a concert, is one thing, but the number of directors is much higher.”
“It is very clear that there are days when the artists are not called to the theater, but they are assigned to those hours. This is where this package comes from – to provide a framework through which those hours are recognized as a preparation, to be in the fullness of all the tools at their disposal. If you have not written a report, it seems that you are absent. But you are just not physically present”, argued the minister's decision.
What measures does the Ministry of Culture propose?
A pilot project by the Ministry of Culture that provides for the normalization of working time for artists and staff in national theaters has generated criticism in the artistic world. “Artistic creation cannot be measured in hours and tables,” UNITER, the professional organization representing Romanian theater artists and professionals, said on Monday.
The new rules require artists to submit their weekly work schedule, fill out individual activity reports and sign attendance sheets, measures that actors challenge because, they say, it turns creative work into office work.
The Ministry of Culture recently published a set of instructions that stipulate the normalization of working time for artists in public performance institutions at 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, with the possibility of exceptions, depending on the specifics of the season. According to the document, the artists would have to fill in forms to justify their working time, reports Cultura la duba. Following the criticism, the ministry later announced that the norming is mandatory only for the institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Culture, not for those of the local authorities, according to the cited source.
