UNSUPPORTED WORK / NEPODPORENÉ DIELO

Unsupported Work reflects on the system of cultural support, and its failure, through the institutional mechanism of grant funding. The artist draws on a specific list of 430 projects that were denied funding by the Slovak Arts Council (FPU). The list includes respected institutions, established artistic collectives, and individual practitioners.

The project titles are applied to a large sheet of fabric measuring 3.6 × 5 metres, installed in the space as a symbolic “unsupported roof.” Both physically and metaphorically, it refers to the absence of basic support, security, and continuity within the cultural sector. A roof that was meant to provide protection becomes an empty gesture.

The work addresses the fragility of cultural infrastructure, which is often dependent on opaque decision-making processes. It creates a quiet memorial to unrealised visions while simultaneously serving as a metaphor for the systemic deterioration that the artist associates with the functioning of the FPU.

Unsupported Work is not only a visual critique, but also a document of invisible labour and lost opportunities. It calls for a broader discussion about how artistic work is evaluated, the lack of transparency within funding structures, and the need for systemic reform in the support of the arts.