Slovakia’s government felt the heat on Thursday as cultural workers from hundreds of theaters, galleries, and other institutions across the country threatened to strike. The movement, known as Culture Strike, is coordinated by Open Culture! Platform, an independent civic group that was formed in January to “protect culture in Slovakia from the destructive actions of politicians.” At a press conference in Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital, Culture Stike’s organizers laid out their demands. They said the culture ministry must halt “ideologically motivated censorship,” implement “professional and competent management,” and ensure “immediate financial stabilization of the [culture] sector, with an emphasis on improving the financial valuation of workers and their social security.” Related Articles The ultimatum follows the culture ministry’s firing the heads of the Slovak National Theater (SND) and the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) in August, Matej Drlička and Alexandra Kusá, respectively. Drlička and Kusá told ARTnews their dismissals were part of a political purge by Robert Fico’s populist left-wing Smer-SSD party. The party won parliamentary elections in Slovakia in October and formed a coalition government with the …