The global pandemic of COVID-19 has posed challenges to creative industries and put them on the brink of survival. Along with voices advocating for public financial support of creative industries, some argue that it is time for such enterprises to innovate, regardless of the pandemic. The latter suggest that creatives should “turn crisis into an opportunity” and “reinvent” themselves. But how can an enterprise innovate if it has no revenues to support even the basic needs and is just burning cash?
For NGOs such as The Old Market Hall (Stará Tržnica, Bratislava, Slovakia), financial sustainability is one of the main pillars and a significant value. The COVID-19 pandemic forces creative industries to seek financial aid from the governments or corporate sponsors. Doesn’t this undermine one of the basic principles of being an NGO? What can be the long-term consequences of the process?
Join us to discuss the current challenges posed by COVID-19 on the example of The Old Market Hall with Denisa Chylová (co-founder of the Alliance Old Market Hall).
The conversation will be moderated by Hanna Szemző (Metropolitan Research Institute).
Format: Presentation (10 minutes) followed up by Q&A and open discussion.
Zoom link provided upon registration. REGISTER HERE
The event is part of the project From Burden to Resource: Industrial Heritage in Central-Eastern Europe (industrial-heritage.net) funded by the Visegrad Fund
Stará Tržnica (Old Market Hall) is a historic building in the center of Bratislava, Slovakia. The building closed down after years of unsuccessful attempts by the municipality to keep the market alive. Years later, the market hall reopened with a redevelopment plan proposed by the Alianca Stará Tržnica (Old Market Hall Alliance), combining a food market every Saturday with cultural events on other days, as well as two cafés, a grocery shop, a cooking school, and a soda water manufacture. Rethinking the opportunities of the Old Market Hall allows the organization to run the building in an economically sustainable way while gradually renovating it and creating a new event venue and meeting space in the heart of the city.
Dig deeper: Stará tržnica | OpenHeritage and watch the movie by Eutropian