Katja Praznik Analyzes Unpaid Artistic Labor and Post-Socialist Cultural Policy

In a 2017 conversation, Slovenian sociologist Katja Praznik reflected on her 2016 publication, 'The Paradox of Unpaid Artistic Labor,' released by Založba Sophia. She contends that artistic work is often romanticized as mere talent, resulting in unpaid positions and unstable circumstances, similar to the unpaid domestic work highlighted by Marxist feminists such as Silvia Federici. Praznik connects this phenomenon in Slovenia to a 1982 legislation that reclassified cultural workers as self-employed, thereby transferring social security responsibilities onto them. Events like Mesto žensk/City of Women in Ljubljana underscore the unsustainable realities faced by marginalized communities. Currently a faculty member at SUNY Buffalo, Praznik contemplates her career shift amidst ongoing instability. The dialogue took place in Zagreb, led by Jasna Jasna Žmak during Praznik's lecture at the Multimedia Institute.