September 2, 2004

Poverty of Spirit, not Money
 Hrvatski]

LABIN – According to repeated claims by Tulio Demetlika, the mayor of Labin, and his closest collaborators, old Labin is a city not only of culture but the birthplace of the great European Mateus Flacius Illiricus. There are a lot of funds and attention given to culture, because if it weren't the way they say it is, would the Istrian regional government federal government invest money in the Labin Art Republic, which will represent a future brand of Istrian cultural tourism, for which will European tourists prefer to visit this medieval jewel above the Kvarner in preference to the splendor of Venetian architecture – so they claim.

It would be wonderful if this were truly so, where the words of the politicians of Labin and so-called cultural people are in harmony with reality, but reality is different from the messages that are thundering from the political podiums. Since the exhibition of Matija Vlacic Illiricus was closed at the beginning of the summer, which for years has been the rule rather the exception, it is now open only in the mornings for a few hours and in the afternoon it is open only while the Labin Art Republic is also open, which is only a few hours in the afternoon on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Similar working hours exist at the City Gallery, which was build from city funds in the amount of several million kuna with promises that this would become the corner stone of Labin's sculptural life. The plan was that at the ground level there was going to be, according to its architect Slavko Batelic, a reception hall for weddings and a shop for local souvenirs, which were intended to attract a great number tourists from the street. This idea, however, was later rejected without explanation, and because the building has no central heating, the place is open only 6 months out of the year. On its first day, they hired a director who was financed by city funds and who is accountable to the city council not being a part of the citizen's open educational center, which is also under city council's jurisdiction.

The explanation by these same people about not allowing full day working hours for this people's museum was that there is no money, which is a lie and a slap in the face to the institutions that want to prosper from cultural tourism. This is suggesting that Labin does not have money for something that would promote the city and fill the city coffers, which would imply that the city is currently poorer than what is otherwise professed. If that is the case, then Labin is continuing to be a poor city despite the claims by the mayor and zupan Jakovcic, as well as the tribune Kanjin, that the city financial crises were overcome a couple of years ago. So where is the snag here since we are not talking about big money that were required for the gallery, where is the snag in providing a few thousand kuna for honorariums for students that would work there during the day? How to convince someone that ten thousand kuna per year to pay to students should not be a problem for a city that spends 640 thousand kuna for the Labin Art Republic and which for the "volunteer" work of the mayor and two city councils spends 2,700 kune a month plus their idea to pay themselves for their “life's work" monetary awards is still alive.

Since there is money for their pockets but not for the city cultural needs, even though they are professing great interest in this cultural life, it is not hard to conclude that they are really not interested and do not want to hear about it- they are just paying lip service to the cause.

Beside all of this, if they were pragmatic, they would not bring to the "city culture" and "artistic republic" disappointment and complaints by tourists and criticism upon themselves for a few measly thousand kune to pay the students to keep open the gallery and the memorial collection. It looks like this is actually a case of poverty of spirit, not money.

M. Milevoj (translated by Pino Golja)

Siromaštvo duha, a ne novca
English]

LABIN - Prema toliko puta ponovljenim riječima gradonačelnika Tulija Demetlike i njegovih prvih suradnika, stari Labin je grad ne samo kulture, već i rodno mjesto velikog Europljanina Matije Vlačića Ilirika. U kulturu se puno ulaže i poklanja mnogo pažnje jer, da nije tako, zar bi i Istarska županija te Vlada ulagali u projekt Labin Art Republike, budući brand istarskog kulturnog turizma, zbog kojega će turisti iz Europe hrliti u taj prelijepi srednjovjekovni gradić ponad Kvarnera više nego dojmljive mletačke arhitekture?

Bilo bi (pre)lijepo kada bi zaista tako i bilo, kada bi riječi labinskih čelnih političara i tzv. kulturnjaka bile usklađene sa zbiljom, koja je u velikom raskoraku s porukama koje grme s političke tribine. Nakon što je početkom ovog ljeta memorijalna zbirka Matije Vlačića Ilirika bila zatvorena cijelog dana, što je godinama bila praksa, ona je nekoliko sati otvorena tek u prijepodnevnim satima, a poslijepodne svoja vrata otvara tek za trajanja Labin Art Republike, dakle po ne-

Objašnjenje gradskih čelnika da za cjelodnevno radno vrijeme memorijalne zbirke Matije Vlačića Ilirika nema sredstava, ne samo da je teška i kompromitirajuća šamarčina projektu Labin Art Republike, za koji se navodno tako žučno zalažu, već je i vrlo bezobrazna

koliko sati srijedom i četvrtkom! Isto radno vrijeme ima i Gradska galerija, u čiju je izgradnju uloženo nekoliko milijuna kuna iz gradskog proračuna, uz obećanje da će to postati okosnica labinskog likovnog života. U prizemlju Gradske galerije trebala je biti, prema zamisli projektanta Slavka Batelića, dvorana za vjenčavanje te svojevrsni dućan izvornih suvenira, koji je trebao s ulice mamiti mnogobrojne turiste. Od tog se nauma odustalo bez ikakva objašnjenja, a zbog nepostojanja sustava za grijanje prostorija izložbena sezona traje tek oko pola godine. Iz gradskog proračuna zaposlena je tek ravnateljica te ustanove, koja je od prvog dana pod upravom Gradskog poglavarstva i ne djeluje u sklopu Pučkog otvorenog učilišta, koje je opet u čvrstom zagrljaju gradskih otaca.

Objašnjenje tih istih ljudi da za cjelodnevno radno vrijeme, uz Narodni muzej ključnih ustanova grada koji želi živjeti od kulturnog turizma, nema novca, ne samo da je teška i kompromitirajuća šamarčina projektu za koji se navodno tako žučno zalažu, već je i vrlo bezobrazna. Naime, ono sugerira da Labin nema novca za nešto što bi trebalo ne samo promicati sam grad, već i puniti gradski proračun, što bi trebalo značiti da je gradska kasa praznija nego što se želi priznati. Ako je zaista tako, posredno se priznaje da je Labin i dalje siromašan grad, premda gradonačelnik uz svesrdnu pomoć župana Ivana Jakovčića i pučkog tribuna Damira Kajina godinama objašnjava da je labinska gospodarska i društvena kriza poodavno prebačena preko leđa. Pa gdje je zapravo zapelo kada se ne radi o nekom velikom novcu - koji je, da ponovim, bio potreban za obnovu gradske galerije-već o svega nekoliko tisuća kuna nužnih za honorar studentima koji bi dežurali u tim ustanovama cijelog dana? Koga uvjeriti da najviše desetak tisuća kuna mjesečno za plaćanje honorara studentima ne bi smjelo biti problem za grad koji je za projekt Labin Art Republika ove godine planirao utrošiti čak 640 tisuća kuna? Ili koji za »volonterski« rad dvaju dogradonačelnika i predsjednika Gradskog vijeća mjesečno troši po 2.700 kuna neto! To daleko nadilazi i satnicu dobro plaćenog gradonačelnika, a kako je krenulo, na kraju balade ne »gine« im ni nagrada za životno djelo.

Kako novca ima za njihove džepove, a nema za gradsku kulturu, pa čak ni onu iza koje oni najizravnije stoje i politički i profesionalno, nije teško zaključiti da ih zapravo ne zanima, i da za nju nemaju ni sluha. Ipak, bez obzira na sve to, da su malo »pragmatičniji« ne bi »gradu kulture« i »umjetničkoj republici« donijeli bruku i negodovanja turista, a sebi navukli kritiku zbog pišljivih nekoliko tisuća kuna, koliko bi koštao cjelodnevni rad memorijalne zbirke i Gradske galerije. Bit će ipak da je riječ o siromaštvu, ali duha, a ne novca.

M. Milevoj

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