nohami is a foundation and label arising from the ethnographic research of artist Lucia Nimcova and musician David Petras in the Carpathian Mountains. The project aims to create sustainable conditions for preserving and sharing knowledge of people living in remote areas on the borderlines of Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, and Hungary.
We aim to preserve and share that knowledge through long-term observation and audiovisual documentation. Working with the same people and in the same places over and over again can reveal transformations in the repertoire, including variations of the same songs sung by different people on diverse occasions.
We collect songs from older women with lyrics closely tied to their life stories. We learn to sing and play the instruments from local musicians. We experiment with when and how certain existences could be documented and shared with a wider public, understanding the importance of the specific contexts. We are using our material as a living archive.
It’s a transdisciplinary approach we feel responsible for. We are searching for appropriate form, independent from given rules of any fields, state institutions, agendas, or trends, therefore finding possibility to continue independent. While creating the foundation, we were inspired by the story of our friend Fedir:
"In the 1970s, the repertoire of wedding music had changed.
I didn't want to play the fiddle anymore, so instead of making a living as a musician, I went to sell carpets with my neighbor."
Fedir Kopchuk, musician and luthier from Western Ukraine
We can continue our research in 2024 thanks to the Konrad Boehmer Foundation's (Netherlands) support.
Contact us
Name: nohami (nonprofit organization)
Company number (registered in Slovakia): 55659616
Address: Námestie republiky 1992/20, 98401, Lučenec, Slovakia
IBAN: SK1975000000004032326855
BIC/SWIFT CODE: CEKOSKBX