Portal Artservis and SCCA Ljubljana organised a round table Self-organizing of Artists for the Improvement of their position that was held in Ljubljana in the first part of October. For this occasion artists from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia were gathered to speak about the status and position of artists in their countries. As situations are very similar, the conclusion is that artists in these countries are underestimated, i.e. that they are acting in unequal conditions comparing to other workers employed in the filed of culture and arts.

The artists find themselves in the gap between two frames. On the one hand is the global, market model, and on the other are remains of the previous socialist system in which existing institutions in culture and art continue to operate according to outdated models. In fact, the existing associations of artists are representing the interests of the contemporary artists rather poorly, and artists are often left to themselves. Thereby the general problem is the lack of independent art initiatives, especially in Croatia and Serbia. Situation in Slovenia in the past few years is becoming more and more favourable as several initiatives that appeared are struggling to improve the status and position of Slovenian artists.

Discussion on the status and position of the artist actually comprehends the concern for social insurance and pension contributions that should be covered from the state or local budget. There are of course other conditions of work arising from inadequate legislative frame and unwillingness of governmental structures to identify and solve problems and recognise the importance of culture and arts in society.

For example we can compare the difference between Serbia and Slovenia through contributions paid on the base of average wages. So in Serbia this basis is only 35%, while in Slovenia the situation is much better and is 60% of the total gross salary, which is, due to the standard of living in Slovenia, higher than the average in Serbia or Croatia. However, the Slovenian artists tend to increase contributions and raise this base from 60 to 90% of the average gross wages.

But, as it is already mentioned above, unlike Croatia and Serbia, there are initiatives which work on these issues in Slovenia. So after many years of pressure on the Ministry of Culture to pay attention to their unenviable position, they managed to establish a dialogue with the Ministry after the change of government. The Ministry of Culture formed a special project group for solving problem of independent artists, and it is planned for this problem to bi solved by 2011. Thus this project group is the result of long-term efforts for establishing equality of free artist and public sector employees, specifically to ensure equal conditions and equal payments for equal work and the same opportunities in the market, where everyone can participate equally in the game.

The problem that was particularly singled out on this round table is the fact that all the achieved agreements must be renewed again after the government is changed. This lack of continuity comes from the fact that the reached agreements do not reflect on the legislation but arise as a result of the current good mood of the competent authorities. Ignorance of the way and working conditions of independent artists, and civil society organizations, that are associated with many contemporary artists in these countries (because the doors of the public cultural and artistic institutions are often closed for them) by the competent authorities additionally complicates the position of artists.

The situation for freelance artist in Serbia is even more complicated thanks to the existing visa system and not only in the sense of mobility. Namely when applying for visa they have to submit the documentation proofing that they paid all the tax obligations to the state, which is often a problem, because the state itself and the local government do not fulfil their obligations of paying contributions to the free artists.

In any case, the existing problems can be resolved only through a dialogue that should be established with the competent authorities on national and local levels. In that sense networking and taking proactive position in the process of struggle for improvement the position and status is essential. In addition, networks today are not only representative entities or those who connect people, but they are increasingly becoming the key players which fight to improve conditions of work for certain interest groups that is associated within the network. Therefore I hope that this round table will be a good incentive for Slovenian artists to continue their struggle and to encourage artists in Croatia and Serbia to begin a similar process for improving their positions.

The round table Self-organizing of Artists for the Improvement of their Position was organised to inform the public on the activities of the self-organised cultural initiatives, both on national and international level, as well as to stimulate cultural workers to connect and embark on collaboration. It is a part of a two-year project Let's Talk Critic Art which is initiated by culture portal for Southeast Europe SEEcult.org from Belgrade, in cooperation with SCCA-Ljubljana/Artservis, Kulturpunkt.hr from Zagreb and the ForumSkopje in Skopje. The project is supported by European Cultural Foundation (ECF).

The project Let's Talk Critic Art is focused on the critical examination of various aspects of contemporary culture and arts through round tables, public interviews and documentation and archiving of organized events that will be published on the portals that are gathered around this project.