Re-introduction
I am Katarína Magdiaková, an artist who spent 4 months at SAMA through the Erasmus+ Traineeship program. Before joining the SAMA team, I studied art at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. After graduation, I decided to challenge myself and try something unknown, learn new things and gain new experiences. SAMA gave me this opportunity and I became part of the team for a few months.
Activities carried out and observations
My traineeship at SAMA lasted from October 2022 to January 2023. However, after completing the traineeship, I decided to stay in Amsterdam for some time and kept in touch with SAMA as a volunteer. I must say that the work at SAMA was really varied. First of all, I gradually learned and got acquainted with the street art museum collection in the streets of Neuw-West, which are closely connected to the area and the local community. I created updates for the izi.TRAVEL app, led the creation of the SAMA collection in the Bloomberg Connects app, participated and collaborated in the creation of workshops, interviews and special events. In addition, I also had many other tasks, including: managing the museum's ephemeral street art collection, digital archives, social media, writing articles for the SAMA blog, creating videos for blog posts and photo-documenting artworks and SAMA’s activities.
What I really enjoyed
I liked learning how the eco-museum and the management of ephemeral cultural heritage works. I’ve admired SAMA’s mission, to use street art for a deeper purpose and as a tool to connect people from the local community. When I think about it, I used to perceive urban art in a completely different way, I didn't pay much attention to it and I have to admit that I didn't really understand it, considering that I studied classical and contemporary art. Being a part of the street art museum entirely changed my view of the city. Now I perceive details that I would normally overlook. A few months in SAMA and my attention is more focused on street art and its messages, which inherently complete the city and life in it.
Challenges faced
The biggest challenge for me was reorienting myself from contemporary art to urban art as well as understanding the ideas and intentions of the eco-museum.
A toast
I wish SAMA energy and perseverance to continue with its socially focused projects, to culturally enrich the society of Amsterdam.