16/11/2025
his is what freedom is all about!
Solidarity with the Slovak Chalk Revolution
Statement by Milo Rau, Artistic Director of the Vienna Festival – Free Republic of Vienna
Bratislava, November 16, 2025
Slovakia is a heroic country. Exactly 36 years ago, a student protest in Bratislava sparked what would soon be called the “Velvet Revolution.” The revolution started at November 17—the day that, until recently, was an official holiday, which the Slovak government abolished.
But the revolution was not as “velvet” as is claimed today, nor was the entire system. Thousands of dissidents were imprisoned in the former Czechoslovakia. Like all dictatorships throughout history, this country was a large prison. The rattling of keys thus became a symbol of peaceful resistance – and at the same time the death knell of the communist dictatorship.
For several days now, the keys have been rattling again in Slovakia. After the “Velvet Revolution,” there is now what is called the “Chalk Revolution”. It began when a student in a town called Popgrad wrote a slogan in chalk on his school that Slovak Prime Minister Fico did not like. The student was arrested, interrogated, and since then, chalk has become a symbol of resistance. So after the “Velvet” Revolution, we now have in Slovakia the „Chalk“ Revolution.
When Fico returned to Popgrad the day before yesterday, he had “eaten chalk,” as they say in Germany. “Eating chalk” means acting peaceful: in Fico's case, pretending to be a democrat, interested in freedom of expression and debate. But when the prime minister suggested stopping all aid to Ukraine, half of the students left the event in protest. Fico started shouting to the students, television cameras filmed everything. Fico's peacefulness was over.
These students were very courageous, standing by their opinion despite all the threats. Nevertheless, Fico called them “enemies of democracy” and “enemies of freedom of expression.” Because you can “eat chalk” to play the democrat, when in reality you are only interested in the monologue of power. But you can also use chalk to tell the truth, and the truth according to the students is: “Away with Fico.” In the same way, velvet can be used to conceal the revolting ugliness of oppression, but you can also use it to make a revolution against the same oppression, a gentle revolution. Because this is also a common name for the end of communism in 1989: “The Gentle Revolution.”
Incidentally, the word „gentle“ reminds me of my Slovak friend, Matej Drlička. Because something else began here in Bratislava, back in August 2024: that was when Matej was dismissed by the Fico government as General Director of the Slovak National Theater. And that was also when the “Open Culture” platform was born, uniting hundreds of Slovak art institutions. 32 protests have been organized over the past two years, cheerful, friendly protests that united hundreds of thousands of people.
To my surprise, however, no one in Austria reacted to this, nor did anyone in Germany or the rest of Europe—as if Bratislava were not an hour's drive from Vienna, but in a different time zone. So we, the Vienna Festival, the Free Republic of Vienna published in August 2024 a protest letter to Prime Minister Fico, which several thousands of people signed in a very short time: “Dismiss the politicians, not the artists.”
It was the beginning of a global artistic revolt that has taken us from city to city for one and a half years already, through more than 15 countries so far. This gave rise to the “Resistance Now” network, which now includes over 200 artistic institutions in 20 countries. Our “Free Culture” campaign to introduce a European law to protect artistic freedom reached 100 million people across Europe last November. The corresponding law is currently in the making, in collaboration with the EU and many European initiatives: the European Artistic Freedom Act (EAFA), the first European law to protect artistic freedom and freedom of expression. We hope that it will prevent dismissals such as that of Matej Drlička in the future.
And now I will tell you why the word „gentle“ reminds me of Matej. When we met on a panel in Amsterdam shortly after his dismissal by Fico, we talked about the situation in Slovakia. At the end, a Slovak citizen stood up and asked, "Why did we lose the fight against Fico? Were we too gentle?“ Matej replied, ”There's nothing wrong with being gentle. That's exactly what we're defending: our love, our kindness, our gentleness. And in the end, we will defeat fascism with the power of our love."
One final remark: I said that November 17 was abolished as a public holiday by Prime Minister Fico. That's not entirely true: the holiday still exists on paper, but it is no longer a day off. That means it's a day like any other, people have to work, and the shops are open. Some employers decided to give their employees the day off anyway, out of protest, of decency or simply out of love for their homeland. Kaufland, Lidl, and Billa—the three largest German and Austrian retail chains—have, of course, not done so.
The Kaufland chain published the following statement: “Thank you to those who come to shop on November 17 and respect those who do not. This is what freedom is about.” This argument reminds me of Fico's speech to the students of Popgrad, in which “freedom” was a synonym for a society of obedient consumers and “dialogue” another word for our collective silence and the monologue of power.
That’s why we stand in solidarity with the students who broke this malicious silence, and we thank them for their clarity and courage on this historic weekend. Let's take the liberty of not shopping tomorrow, but protesting instead! Peacefully, gently, but firmly. Because otherwise, this freedom will soon be no more.
