Staff spent winter wrapped in blankets, says Slovak Design Centre director. Now he is resigning

Maroš Schmidt, director of the Slovak Design Centre, has handed in his notice after five years in the post, saying he can no longer run the institution amid funding cuts and disputes with the Culture Ministry.

In an interview with Denník N, Schmidt described staff shortages, problems with everyday operations and growing tensions with the ministry, led by Martina Šimkovičová, a nominee of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), part of the governing coalition.

“I should keep fighting as director, but, simply put, I no longer have the strength,” he said, describing his departure as a personal defeat. His notice period runs until the end of December.

The Bratislava-based Slovak Design Centre, established in 1991, documents and promotes Slovak design. It runs the country’s only specialised design museum, publishes the magazine Designum and organises the National Design Award.

Procurement changes prompt resignation

The immediate reason for Schmidt’s departure was a change to the centre’s founding charter introduced by the ministry in July.

Under the new arrangements, purchasing for institutions overseen by the ministry was transferred to the Administration of Ministry Facilities, a central procurement body.

Schmidt said the ministry introduced the changes without consulting the institutions or explaining how the new system would work. Although directors lost control over selecting suppliers, they remained responsible for spending decisions and checking whether contracts had been properly fulfilled, he said.

He believes the arrangement could expose him to legal risks.

The centre encountered difficulties when arranging the printing of an English-language book about Bratislava’s historic School of Arts and Crafts. Schmidt eventually secured an exemption allowing it to select a printer.

He said a senior ministry official had recently told him the rules would be amended to allow institutions to handle purchases worth up to €50,000 themselves.

Staff worked through winter without heating

Schmidt also described the centre’s financial difficulties.

“Last year, we spent the whole winter wrapped in blankets because our boiler wasn’t working,” he told Denník N.

The heating failure saved the state €3,500, he said, but the boiler had still not been replaced. The centre rents premises in a Culture Ministry building in Bratislava.

Schmidt said successive spending cuts had forced the institution to reduce staffing, give up premises and restrict its activities. Employees have sometimes paid for work-related travel themselves.

He said employees came to him almost every month asking whether he could guarantee their salaries would be paid on time and whether further redundancies were coming. Some were considering looking for other jobs because they could not afford to miss a salary payment.

He also raised questions about €92,000 remaining from an international Interreg project. Schmidt said the centre had been unable to access the money for almost two years, although ministry officials had told him it was visible in their financial system.

The centre has also decided to return to organising the National Design Award every two years rather than annually. Schmidt attributed the decision to financial uncertainty and staff shortages.

The Slovak Design Museum, which forms part of the centre, now has only three employees, he said.

Ministry accused of punishing criticism

Schmidt said his relationship with the ministry changed in August 2024, when Šimkovičová dismissed Slovak National Theatre director Matej Drlička.

Schmidt joined several other cultural institution directors in publicly criticising the dismissal. According to him, the ministry subsequently described their criticism as political activity and warned that they could be removed from their positions.

He also recalled a meeting at which Lukáš Machala, then the ministry’s secretary-general, allegedly threatened those unwilling to follow its direction.

“We will destroy everyone who does not follow our line,” Schmidt quoted Machala as saying.

Schmidt said he initially doubted Machala meant the warning seriously. Machala has since been removed from his ministry position, but his departure did not affect Schmidt’s decision to resign.

Schmidt also rejected accusations that the centre had become politicised because its employees participated in protests against the government’s cultural policies.

He said the entire workforce had joined the cultural strike and regularly attended protests. Schmidt believes this contributed to the centre being labelled a “hostile institution” by the ministry.

“They accused us of playing politics, but all we ever cared about was our work,” he said.

Schmidt said the ministry had not convened a joint meeting of cultural institution directors since early June. Despite Machala’s departure, he said there had been no discussions about budgets and plans for 2027, even though preparations should already have been under way.

Schmidt plans to finish several projects before leaving at the end of December. He intends to continue working independently as a curator, designer and design researcher.