“The brownshirts were once again making threats in front of the Ministry of Culture. They poured red paint on the road and the sidewalk, and the police calmly watched them and waited for them to finish,” Mitja Iršič, a public relations consultant at the Ministry of Culture, wrote in a post on Twitter. While some are criticising police repression, it is clear, on the other hand, that the police – especially at times when they really should be taking action – often just stare silently and thus give impetus to new art installations which are likely to cost us, the taxpayers, money too.
The road in front of the Ministry of Culture quite often becomes an “artistic” canvas for various creations, which are supposed to have a deeper meaning. At the protest against the eviction of Metelkova, for example, the non-governmental organisations blocked the street with their street art – namely, they poured red paint on the school desks, which symbolised blood, and wrote the names of employees at the ministry on the desks. Then there was the gathering of the cultural workers, which ended with littering and wreaking havoc in front of the ministry, and an actor and actress even undressed down to their underwear. In the “last action for culture,” the protesters expressed their disagreement with the state of culture in our country by lying down on the street. Not to mention the constant scribbling and paint on the façade of the ministry. But the very fact that law enforcement is not taking actions against this is what gives a new impetus to new quasi-artistic creations.
“They stood there, in front of the building, and silently stared at the “artists,” who poured paint across the sidewalk and on the road. The police van was also parked in front of the ministry. How can they just calmly stand and watch such an obvious violation of public law and order, is something I will never be able to understand,” the public relations adviser at the Ministry of Culture, Mitja Iršič, wrote on his Twitter, adding that the inaction of the police is a slap in the face for the regular citizens, who are punished for driving three kilometres an hour faster than the speed limit, while these bandits can intimidate an entire neighbourhood without being punished for it. He also pointed out that this was not the first time that the police just stood and stared – last autumn, the road in front of the ministry was blocked every week. Each time, there was a new “performance.” And the police just stood there and watched. “Except for once, at the beginning of all of this, when they fined the two theatre actors who undressed in front of the Ministry of Culture. Of course, they are both employed in a public theatre. Safely funded throughout the epidemic,” he added. “On the day after the incident, the road is still painted red. Apparently, this is a permanent fixture now. The Ljubljana Municipality will surely take care of it, and the money for it will be taken from electricians, masons, plumbers and workers on CMC machines. So, from those who have to pay for these jokes,” he then wrote on the next day.
Sara Bertoncelj
