Festival of Jewish Arts and Music
FOJAM is dedicated to promoting a nuanced cultural understanding of what it means to be Jewish.
Mission
Delivering a contemporary international arts and music festival showcasing the diversity and vitality of Jewish identity, culture and life, creating a lasting and positive impact on the quality of life of people in Australian and Jewish communities around the world. FOJAM aims to promote peace through music, art and the celebration and exploration of Jewish culture.
About
The Festival of Jewish Arts and Music - FOJAM is a contemporary Jewish music and arts festival exploring Jewish music, arts, ideas, culture and identity. FOJAM is a platform for artists and artists engaging with Jewish culture to explore and showcase their work. FOJAM seeks to broaden perceptions of what it means, and what it looks like, to express being Jewish today. While music sits at the heart of what we do, we explore all art forms and are open to anything that sparks discussion, empathy and curiosity in our cultural consciousness.
FOJAM evolved from Shir Madness, an annual Jewish music festival held in Melbourne and Sydney between 2015-2018. Shir Madness was famous for its Song of Songs showcase, which invited 15 treasured Australian singers to each perform a song by their favourite Jewish composer, led by an all-star backing band.
When festival director Lior Albeck-Ripka and producer Jesse Lubitz from Hear Them Holler were appointed, they brought professionalism, energy and vision to their new roles and were delighted to take the Melbourne Jewish music festival into the next chapter, the chapter of FOJAM. As well as an exciting lineup of music performances, panel discussions and installations, FOJAM presents other performance mediums including contemporary dance, theatre and spoken word. It will continue to showcase artists from around the world, alongside leading and emerging Australian artists.
Who Are We
FOJAM BOARD
LIOR -
Festival Patron
Lior burst on to the Australian music scene in 2005 with his debut album - ‘Autumn Flow’. An award winning singer songwriter, Lior also involves himself in mentoring roles for young songwriters, in advocacy work against poverty and in 2019 was awarded the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship for ‘outstanding talent and exceptional courage’.
DR TIMNAH BAKER
Completing a PHD in Immigration Law with Sydney University, Timnah Baker is a Jewish culture enthusiast and obsessed with Environmentalism in the Bible and Israeli 70's folk music.
ADRIANA GOMBERG
Adriana's passion for collaboration and extensive international career working in the arts and cultural sectors makes her an exciting addition to the FOJAM Board. She has formerly held senior roles at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Jewish Museum of Australia and has managed a number of complex multicultural, multi-disciplinary and multi-generational projects and major events, strategic partnerships and programming. In 2005, Adriana was the inaugural recipient of the Jenny Goldberg Community Service Grant, giving recognition to her volunteering work as a recently arrived migrant. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Communications and a post-graduate degree in Marketing and Public Relations.
JAMES OSTROBURSKI
James may well be the most activist young philanthropist of his generation in Australia. He has reached that position at an early age, thanks significantly to his own efforts as an investment banker. As well as being a passionate philanthropist, James is also an avid music lover, company director, dance maker, arts advocate and chocolate eater.
KATE BEN-TOVIM
Kate is a curator, producer and cultural policy specialist. Kate is Director of Turning World a boutique cultural agency. She was Associate Director of Asia TOPA (2017, 2020) and has created / directed numerous other festivals and major events in Australia and overseas.
History
Accomplished artist Deborah Conway - a strong, gifted, force of nature, together with her loyal and devoted talented musician husband, Willy Zygier were the visionaries behind the Shir Madness Jewish Music Festival, which celebrated Jewish culture, tradition and talent through music and community.
After two years of blood, sweat and tears running the Shir Madness Festival, the inimitable Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier invited Lior Albeck-Ripka and Jesse Lubitz to take over the reigns of Shir Madness to transform and innovate, produce and cultivate it into the festival of their dreams. Alas, FOJAM was born.
Deborah and Willy have been the backbone of FOJAM. They are both our guides and respected elders. Not only did they set the foundation for which we could start to run this unique festival, they blessed us with their confidence and support, and a bloody good Bloody Mary in their living room when the going got tough. We are forever indebted to these generous, soul-lifting individuals for the paths they carved and the opportunities they forged for us all to come together and celebrate EXCELLENCE in Jewish music and arts across the board.
Todah chaverim (thank you dear friends).