“Despite everything, JAMA took place in October this year, directly in Banská Štiavnica, thanks to the artistic and curatorial management of the tandem Fero Király & Eva Vozárová, their team and Banska St a nica Contemporary.
I like the genre of “artistic reminiscence”, which the event introduced as its PR description. It is a brief summary of a functional and open curatorial concept. It suggests that although the inspiration is Adamčiak’s already closed body of work, it gives up the pathos of historical remembrance and refuses to be a monument (also by counting the years since the birth of MA, as if he was still alive). JAMA insists on a creative continuation based on his way of thinking by developing 1) new and current artistic expressions directly or freely inspired by his impressively rich artistic work and 2) intermedia works and ideas of other authors and their new interpretations.
This year, JAMA was more deep than wide, as the whole (non)festival was online, without a live audience. As we see, it eventually elevated the whole event. Svätopluk Mikyta highlighted the moment of improvisation and the fact that without the audience, the festival became a happening for the participants. Zuzana Bodnárová expressed the idea that several participants of last year (often tinged with a bit of emotion) voiced in several variations – that JAMA is not a place, but a state of mind.”
– Lucia G. Stach, Vlna 85, December 2020
“The (non)festival was a space of delicate contact with Adamčiak’s work, which took place in the form of performances throughout its duration. Thanks to the high-quality curatorial and dramaturgical work, the effect of the festival resonates even a few days after its end. The disadvantage of this type of event is its specificity, which requires at least a minimum level of audience awareness of the personality, character and scope of the author’s work. In conclusion, it can be assessed that JAMA metaphorically became Adamčiak himself, i.e. the local in its dimension, global in its quality.”
– Dominika Chrzanová, Flashart, January 2021
“What I’m sure is that small, considerate events like Jama are vital, even more so in such nasty times. Because they may help us to navigate through these new realities we’re in. And make us experience remote collectivity, new constellations of a ‘we’, reaching beyond next door, behind the hill, and across borders – no matter if you’re in Banská Belá, Belarus, Ukraine, or Poland.”
– Jürgen Rendl, traveler, observer and author, guest of JAMA 2020, FB Status
“JAMA was beneficial in several ways. It introduced the work of Milan Adamčiak to people outside the art scene – the inhabitants of Banská Štiavnica and Banská Belá. It also provided another group of people (who knew Adamčiak more or less theoretically) with a multidimensional, even hard look at his daily life. But above all, it has allowed us all to experience firsthand how important it is to come out of our private “bubbles” – common discourses – in which we are used to move comfortably. It helped us to discover that nebulous areas, spaces on the border (in between the media, in between low and high art, in between theory and practice, in between intellectual and popular culture) are the most fruitful. For me, the concept of intermediality finally got a very specific meaning, experienced firsthand.
This JAMA simply and beautifully filled the hole after an exceptional person, and there is no doubt that Milan himself would be thrilled.”
– Alexandra Tamásová, Curator of The collections of Modern and Contemporary Art at Slovak National Gallery @ Denník N, October 29, 2019
“I would like to mention the JAMA festival – the 73rd year of Milan Adamčiak as an example of an intermedia festival, which crossed the borders of a concept of a festival as we know it, brought together people from different artistic professions, not only revived Milan Adamčiak’s legacy in the environment in which he lived, but also created a kind of social sculpture in the local community. It is important that this festival in an experiential way enliven the work of the intermedia creator Milan Adamčiak in the environment in which he lived, but especially opened the idea of intermedia art as a way of perceiving the urgency of the need to express oneself when it comes to the state of the world for the many young people that attended the festival.”
– Lucia G. Stach, Head Curator of The collections of Modern and Contemporary Art at Slovak National Gallery @ Rádio Devín, January 17, 2020
“The event of the year for me is a phenomenon – small local festivals – especially JAMA – 73rd year of Milan Adamčiak. Discovering Slovak people with global merit for younger generations has become a new field of positive deviation. JAMA was a local festival, but with the worldwide potential to become a real cult event. Banská Belá and Banská Štiavnica were presented in a new surprising light.”
– Tomáš Prišitiak, musician, filmmaker, director of the Karloveská knižnica Library @ Denník N, December 12, 2019
“I have nice memories from the first year of the (non)festival JAMA. I appreciate the unique form of the program, which the organizers planned really interestingly and atypically. I consider the connection of the music, art, dance and literary worlds, as well as the involvement of the locals in the program, an outstanding aspect.”
– Ondrej Veselý @ Hudobný život 11/2019
“JAMA – the 73rd year of Milan Adamčiak (1946–2017) was organized at the beginning of October 2019 by members of the Cluster ensemble Eva Vozárová, Fero Király and Ivan Šiller in cooperation with other members, partners and guests, but also with the local scene of Banská Štiavnica and its surroundings. The event, additionally named as a non-festival, became one of the highlights of last year’s festival season, not only for the intensity of the experience and the atmosphere of the place, but especially for the interconnection of media, art and participants. It therefore makes sense to return here once again.”
(…)
JAMA was not only a festival, but also one of the many possible trips to Adamčiak’s fictional country. The fictional kingdom of Panfília originated in 1972 from his interest in pataphysics and provided him with a mental space for “joy and love for all things, almost all things.” “Philia” is in Greek to love, “pan-” in Slovak can be “everything-” and it could also stand for a code for an abbreviation of Latin pro arte nova – “for new art”, which he used as a signature in the 1960s together with Robo Cyprich. The coat of arms of Panfilia was the syrinx whistle of the Greek god Pan, the god of boisterousness and freedom who had a close relationship with nature. The Panfília calendar, as a “handbook for the Panfília community”, was created sporadically since 1979. One annual Panfília holiday was created. JAMA was able to offer the participants a Panfília-like escape from reality as they voluntarily got lost.”
– Lucia G. Stach, Head Curator of The collections of Modern and Contemporary Art at Slovak National Gallery @ Vlna, XXII, č. 82, May 2020