FPU Council Approves Call for Applications for FPU Director Post (2)

Bratislava, 7 October (TASR) - The Arts Support Fund (FPU) Council approved a call for applications for the post of FPU director at its meeting on Wednesday, with applicants allowed to apply until 16 November, TASR reported on the same day. The FPU Council also approved the principles and priorities for support activities for 2027. "As part of their applications, candidates for the post of FPU director must submit a project for managing and developing the fund, as well as documents proving at least five years of professional experience in management and five years of professional experience in the field of art, culture or the creative industries," said Adriana Zalesakova from FPU. Candidates who meet all the statutory conditions and formal requirements will present themselves at a public hearing. Details of the call and the conditions are available on the FPU website. The current call was announced by the FPU Council exactly a month ago, when it decided to cancel the previous selection procedure with the aim of holding an election that won't give rise to doubts about its conduct or outcome. At its meeting on Wednesday, the council also approved the principles and priorities for FPU's support activities for next year. In addition, council members approved a schedule of calls for 2027, with the first call to be announced on 19 October. In total, five grant calls are expected by the end of the year. "I consider the schedule of calls to be one of the most important documents governing the fund, and complying with it is a priority for us. The applicants will have a clear framework and sufficient time to prepare their projects," said FPU Council chair Milan Sedlacek. FPU acting director Frantisek Kornaj pointed out that the principles also take into account comments from the expert public that could be incorporated into the document. In response to Wednesday's meeting, the Open Culture platform and Antena – Network for Independent Culture stated that despite the change in the post of FPU Council chair and repeated claims about FPU being more open, its approach to the cultural community on key issues remains essentially unchanged. "The fund allowed the public to submit comments, but provided no opportunity for expert discussion, rejecting almost all of them and once again preventing the public from attending the council's meeting," stated the organisations. According to them, the cultural community's comments weren't discussed in person with those who submitted them and almost all of them were rejected without proper explanation. Furthermore, there was no constructive discussion concerning the comments at Wednesday's meeting, they added. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the final three paragraphs jrg