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The Cultura Digital (CD) project is an effort to identify, integrate and empower cultural producers through the creative use of ICTs and FLOSS (Free Libre Open Source Softwares), based on a philosophy of knowledge sharing as the ideal manner to strengthen Brazilian cultural diversity and identity, thereby creating outlets for new forms of civil society organisation and autonomy.
The need for a national sustainable development approach to overcome Brazil’s complex social, economic and environmental problems is manifest, but mind boggling. The country’s vast geographical area, tremendously large population, diversity in cultural groups and ethnicities, makes it a country of extremes and a great challenge for government and civil society to tackle its many problems. However, Brazilians have found a way to engage its citizens through culture in the fight for equal opportunity, social inclusion and economic sustainability, by provoking a silent revolution called digital culture.
The Cultural Digital (CD) project responds to this need through a framework, which builds upon and strengthens a pre-existing network of Brazilian communities. In the CD project, participants are equipped with the capacity to be innovators of technology, and not merely receivers of it. As somewhat of a response to the short-comings of the traditional movement coined – ‘digital inclusion’, CD focuses on the appropriation of technology, through the application of the project’s activities, which used in conjunction create a solid platform for generating new knowledge and producing innovation. The CD project is built on four activity areas: Free Knowledge Hands-on Workshops, Metareciclagem, Free Software, and Multimedia Digital Kits. Cultural Hotspots are the foundation of the project and are the force, which unite the activity areas. They are cultural stewards and ensure the long-term sustainability of the project’s overall objectives and project activities.
Vision:
Promote the right of free cultural expression through the dissemination of an open source philosophy and training in collaborative and generous intellectual practices, in order to stimulate a more balanced system in terms of knowledge creation, production, access to opportunity, and civil society participation. Objective – The objective of this project is to connect the Cultural Hotposts and other communities, to expand a platform for developing and learning through engaging in conversations. In this way they learn together and modify traditional notions of identity, space and meaning, bringing on a new dimension of power and creation. Network users will become empowered to create change, reconstruct systems and leading the will in transformation.
Milestones and time frame:
Phase 1- Implementing technological infrastructure for the network formation of Cultural Hotspots: development of “Estudio Livre” – This is a system developed from TikiWiki, with the objective to strengthen a platform for sharing the cultural content produced by the hotspots, through the production of open source media using floss. Using this system, Hotspots have the potential to share video, music, written documents, among other digital artifacts, to create structural conditions for a real cultural remix using creations from different locales, realities and points of view. All this file sharing is based on the Creative Commons licenses.
Timeline:
Estudio Livre is up and running. Development of “Converse”, a conversation portal for interaction between Cultural Hotspots. This site enables the Cultural Hotspots to exchange experiences, share common interests and difficulties, show cultural products, create links to other institutions of interest and develop integrative projects. Converse is up and running – Phase 2 – Mapping the Cultural Hotspots II.1 Mapping the Cultural Hotspots throughout Brazil to identify 1) which hotspots have the most potential to appropriate the digital technology from the kits and 2) which have the most potential to be replicators in there communities, passing on the knowledge and know how of media production using floss to other hotspots
In total 250 Cultural Points have been mapped. For a complete list of mapped Cultural Points, please refer to our database system, Mapsys, availabe at http://culturadigital.converse.org.br/mapsys-projeto.php user: mapviewer password: map
Another 350 Cultural Points will be mapped in the first semester of 2006. Phase 3 – Regional Workshops: The organisation and implementation of Free (Open) Knowledge Workshops. The workshops are organised by region. Workshops give project participants the opportunity to appropriate and manipulate open source Multimedia Software. Participants learn practical applications in audio, video, radio, graphics, linux, and discuss intellectual generosity, gender and technology among other topics. Between August to December, 2005, a total of fourteen workshops were held. In the coming year, seventeen regional workshops will be held starting in April until October, 2006. Approximately 70 to 150 people, representing 25 to 35 Cultural Hotspots participate in each workshop. Phase 4 – Local Workshops, implementing the multimidia kits on the Hotspots: The delivery of 100 multimidia kits composed of 3 computers, audio and video equipement as well as printers and graphical equipment is planned for the first semester of 2006. The multimidia kits will be distributed to the 100 hotspots that were ideintifyed with the most “digital culture” potential. When delivered, the Hotspot will receive special indepth training related to it’s local context, eg.: Hotspots that work with video production will get detailed knowledge on video production using the kit ant all the floss installed.
Type of project organisation:
The prime owners of the Cultura Digital project are first and foremost Brazil’s cultural producers, communities interacting with cultural producers, and the audiences and receivers of cultural production. Culture belongs to and is part of the Brazilian people, interacting on the basis of culture empowers Brazilians to express their knowledge and intrinsic wisdom through art, performance and daily life practices. Cultural Digital facilitates this interaction by opening space for like-minded citizen to engage in culutral dialogue, provoking synergistic relationships for new ideas in the creation of cultural knowledge. Opportunities for participation occur locally, regionally and nationally through the interaction of Hotspots in their communities, in the regional workshops and virtually over the digital cultural network. From a technological perspective, this structure is sustained with the philosophy and practise of metareciclagem and open source software.
The Cultural Hotspots are legitimate actors in their local communities and have played a central role in community development for years. Using cultural production they recapture history, rescue identity, and build the self-esteem of individuals and entire communities. The project takes this process further, with the access to ICT tools, which empower Hotspots to expand their cultural knowledge beyond the local limits. The digital kits, coupled with the open knowledge workshops and the support sites enable the Hotspots to overpass financial, geographical and social barriers to cultural development, giving cultural producers development autonomy. At the local level, Cultural Hotspots open there creative space to the community as laboratories for experimentation, enabling children, youth, adults and seniors citizens to express themeselves and recapture their stories and identities through innovations in digital culture productions. This structure is further strengthened through the cultural network. The digital network is the medium for communication and culture expression, with an extensive capacity to captivate a large and diverse audience. Network participation is also facilitated through the use of ICTs and the philosophy of community and open source technology, which nurtures and thus encourages the right to produce and reproduce knowledge, making people creators of culture, and in essence creators of knowledge. In this way, Brazilian citizens undergo a transformation and move away from being receivers of culture to being creators of knowledge through cultural production – implementing a solid platform for active participation in the visioning and creation of a balanced Brazilian society.
The technical structure which supports the emergence of a digitally connected cultural communities lies within the practise of Metareciclagem. Metareciclagem enables Brazilian citizens to independently acquire and appropriate the basic technological tools needed to create cultural knowledge. Workshop participants are trained in Metareciclagem and have access to the listserv and site which offer support to Metareciclers. The structure is dependent on the donations of old and used computers, thus it is an economically viable way of bringing more and more people into contact with the necessary ICT tools for knowledge creation. In this way, more Brazilians can participate in the digital culture network, which is open to anyone with access to a computer and an Internet connection. By participating in the elements of the Cultura Digital project, citizens become part of a positive and vibrant cultural movement for change and transformation towards an all inclusive and balanced society with respect for diversity and cultural differences.
Target organisations:
The CD project targets community groups producing culture all over Brazil. As such, CD targets children, youth, adults, seniors, women, men, and cultural organisations. The project is a nation-wide approach to cultural inclusion, encompassing urban and eri-urban centres, rural areas, quilombos, indigenous villages, among others. The project reached approximately 1 million Brazilian residents.
Transferability:
The project can be applied anywhere, as the collaboration and cultural publication platforms are localizable and available as open source codes. The metodology for the workshops is also adaptable to local contexts, have been used in dense urban areas as well as in indiginous tribes. At the moment there are already Cultural Hotspots implanted in France and United States. As the project is being conducted in partnership with UNDP one of its objectives is creating wide range of materials to divulge and spread its results by the end of 2006. By this way other countries or regions may replicate the nature of this project.
Future – expected development:
Until the end of Brazil’s current administration (December 2006), the project will work with at most 600 Cultural Hotspots, as well as a number of Hotspots not officially selected in the Ministry of Culture’s public call for proposals. Looking into the future, this project works on two pillars: articulation of the Cultura Digital network and empowerment of the Cultural Hotspots. The project attempts to establish and consolidate a network of Cultural Hotspots, spread throughout the country, which will articulate actions through ICTs. The expectation is that the network will know how to use its potential for articulation in order to guarantee the project’s continuity, be it through political lobby or through solidarity between and amongst the Cultural Hotspots. In response to the question of empowerment, the project works at introducing to the network new possibilities for obtaining autonomy, through the full use of ICTs. It is understood that these attitudes are difficult to absorb, but it is hoped that all Hotspots participating in the network come to hold these expectations. As a precursor, the project has searched to identify Cultural Hotspots where these attitudes could be easily implemented. These points are considered stewards of the project, acting in a way to ensure and maintain effective articulation of the network.
stockholm challenge project data
December 13th, 2005
Over the last three years, The Waag-Sarai Exchange programme has focused on building links and collaborations between programmers, designers, scholars and theorists between Europe and Asia. This facilitated jointly developed bodies of knowledge, skills such as interface design, systems design, low tech solutions, and research collaborations as in workshops and publications (including a variety of printouts, from wall papers and broadsheets to readers and books).
We would like to draw upon this experience, and the institutional knowledge gained during this process to propose an elaborate design in order to encourage initiatives in a wider orbit for the exchange. On the basis of the experience of the exchange, Sarais system of independent fellowships and the collaboration with worldwide non-exclusion initiatives, we would now like to initiate a process that works towards a multi-nodal understanding of the exchange in its next phase. By this we mean a process, which will go beyond the original partners, into support to a number of new initiatives. The Waag-Sarai Exchange will into transform to a Platform.
From its inception, the exchange has been driven by a vision for certain shared values. In elaborating the idea of the exchange, we would like these values to be maintained, discussed and disseminated in a wide arc of initiatives. In particular, we are concerned to reiterate the following:
- Importance of the public domain
- Access to media tools and innovation in media practices
- Interdisciplinary research (between research and practice, and across disciplines)
- Setting up contexts for creativity and exploration of expressive means.
- Reflection on the nature of collaboration between different cultures
We should reiterate that our understanding of `new’ media derives from the particular historical configurations: these include those of innovation under conditions of large scale inequality, creative uses of existing old media, and thriving informal networks in the societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is this range of practices and possibilities that we plan to address. The exchange programme attempts to strengthen the relationship between these informal networks and the informal networks in the North.
We plan to do so by going beyond the initial framework of the Sarai-Waag exchange, to help initiate and assist new nodes based on ethical and normative principles of equal collaboration and respect to diverse interests of future partners.
Formats of collaboration
Fellowships: the Sarai-Waag Platform will institute fellowships and residencies which fall within the thematics of the Platform agenda. The Fellowships will also be used to give seed support to potential platform partners. In general, organizations rather than individuals will be supported. In some cases, where individuals are facilitating networks, support may be considered. In 2004 there will be three different fellowships. A 10-month fellowship has been awarded to the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore, India. Additionally there will be two short term fellowships to support proposals for emerging initiatives in the South focusing on the themes outlined above.
Technical support: The Platform will provide technical support to independent initiatives, which fall within the thematic domains. Support may include list and web hosting and network consultancy. This will be located at the Waag Society.
Workshops and Conferences: The Platform will collaborate with like-minded organizations and networks in organizing workshops and conferences on themes of its concern.
The Waag Sarai Exchange Platform is supported by the dutch ministry of foreign affairs
Exchange Platform Board
January 1st, 2004
Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) represent a new and growing phenomenon, which is much discussed these days as it implies a radically new method of production, co-operation and exchange. In this paper we argue that Open Source Software has a special importance when viewed, used and produced in the context of development cooperation. With this paper we want to encourage all stakeholders in the sector to pay more attention to Open Source Software, employ it wherever possible and to learn from the principles embedded in it. This manifest that has been produced during a workshop on the role of Open Source Software in the development cooperation context that was organized by Waag Society and Hivos contains a number of recommendations aimed at increasing the use of Open Source Software in this sector.
Free as in speech
While this manifesto focuses on the practical advantages of Open Source Software in the context of development cooperation it is important to stress that the FLOSS movement also has an ideological component. This includes that anyone should have the freedom to run, change, distribute and study software independent of outside interferences and limitations. In the context of development cooperation this ability to operate independent of external interests and interferences helps ensure that the focus is kept on the more important issues.
The philosophy behind open source software
The knowledge that is embedded in operating systems and software programs to make them run, also known as the source code, can be either ‘closed’ and proprietary, or ‘open’, that is public and shared. Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) is software of which the source code is available, that may be used, copied, and distributed with or without modifications, and that may be offered either with or without a fee.
Although the open source movement goes back almost forty years, Open Source Software has become a mainstream-topic only recently. Worldwide more and more businesses, organizations and governments are using Open Source Software. This ongoing adoption can be attributed to two reasons, namely the maturing of some key open source products like GNU/Linux and Office production software (Open Office) and the increased resistance to the effective monopoly of Microsoft on the worldwide software market.
The choice for either the open or the closed concept has very different and far-reaching consequences for users, developers and producers of software alike.
The (still dominant) closed format of software seems to suit corporate interests well, but at the same time it appears to be increasingly at odds with the current shift of ‘tangible’ (concrete products and services), towards ‘intangible’‚ (i.e. knowledge-based) production. Since the immaterial, in the digital age, is also very easily duplicable, the efforts to ‘proprietarize’ it have resulted in severe legal and political conflicts around the disputed concept of ‘intellectual property rights’.
Open Source Software by putting knowledge (the source code) in the public domain‚ offers much more opportunities for sharing and co-operation between all players in the field, reduces dependencies, hinders the rise of monopolists, and fosters healthy competition. Contrary to widespread beliefs, Open Source Software is not adverse to commerce and business as Open Source based products and services can be sold by anyone.
Open Source Software and Development Cooperation
- The most significant advantage is the right to view and modify the source code as it enables anyone with the required skills to improve or modify such applications thus creating the possibility to tailor Open Source Software applications according to individual, regional or special needs. In the context of development cooperation this means that applications can be adapted to country specific circumstances (language or other special needs) regardless of the fact if this is profitable for a vendor or not.
- As Open Source Software applications are not the property of a single entity, using them makes the user less dependent. This is especially important in the South were organisations running on subsidised or pirated software face the risk of becoming dependent on essential infrastructure they cannot sustain should the subsidies end or intellectual property laws be enforced. Additionally Open Source Software does ensure that specialized knowledge that was generated with public resources is not kept as a protected secret of the North. The use of Open Source Software implies a willingness to share knowledge between North and South
- While it is disputed if Open Source Software is less expensive to run than proprietary software, it is undisputed that the acquisition costs are lower (some studies claim higher administration and training costs). In the context of development cooperation this means that little or no money has to be spend for goods imported from the North while local personnel in the South can carry out training and maintenance tasks. This effectively reduces the allocation of development cooperation resources to the North. Additionally Open Source Software solutions can be at the base of local distribution and support networks that can create autonomous economic activity in the South.
Open Source Software also has some weaknesses. The focus of most FLOSS-products is more on the technical user; this can be a hindrance for the inexperienced user. However, Open Source Software is gradually improving in this area. Furthermore, due to the fact that not a lot of people are using Open Source Software, in some places there might be a lack of training opportunities and support, although this lack of support is compensated by an extensive amount of Open Source Software-support on the Internet. The relatively small user base of Open Source Software also might give organizations some compatibility problems with organizations that use the ’standard’ proprietary software.
In the context of international co-operation and development, Open Source Software is a very promising approach, because it is far more conducive to its stated goals of non-dependent development, fostering of local knowledge, diversity and sustainability. Successful Open Source Software projects have shown that cooperation on an equal basis is possible between organizations and individuals independent of origin. This hints at the potential of the methods of production, co-operation and exchange pioneered by Open Source Software developers for cooperation in other realms.
Therefore, we believe that it is essential to consider, and if found appropriate, to advocate, and support the use of FLOSS and the philosophy that belongs to it.
FLOSS and the link with Good Governance and Local Ownership In the field of development cooperation ‘good governance’ and ‘local ownership’ have become important criteria for allocating resources. In contrast to proprietary software, key elements of what is considered to be ‘good governance’ and ‘local ownership’ can be found in the FLOSS approach to software development, distribution and implementation: The principles of transparency and participation for example are embodied within FLOSS. This means that FLOSS provides tools that are in line with the goals and intentions of development cooperation projects
FLOSS and the link with Good Governance and Local Ownership
In the field of development cooperation ‘good governance’ and ‘local ownership’ have become important criteria for allocating resources. In contrast to proprietary software, key elements of what is considered to be ‘good governance’ and ‘local ownership’ can be found in the FLOSS approach to software development, distribution and implementation: The principles of transparency and participation for example are embodied within FLOSS. This means that FLOSS provides tools that are in line with the goals and intentions of development cooperation projects
Politics and Open Source Software
At the end of this year Geneva hosts the World Summit on the Information Society that is to result in a declaration and an action plan by governments on how to achieve a information society that is of benefit to us all. Numerous drafts have been published, some people centred, some market centred, all mentioning Open Source Software.
It is mentioned for example as ‘basic elements in the development of a more affordable access to ICTs’. And also ‘the development and use of open standards are particularly important for developing countries. In this regard the increased use of Open Source Software can contribute to increasing access and to adding to the diversity of choice of software for consumers’.
Open Source Software development has already been recognised by Dutch Parliament as the way forward. In November 2002 Parliament accepted a motion on open source software. It stated that the current market conditions are not optimal (concentrated suppliers and high costs of switching) and that software plays a crucial role in a knowledge society. The motion called upon the government to make sure that all software used by the Dutch public sector in 2006 meets the open standards, stimulate the production and distribution of open source software in the Dutch public sector and set concrete and ambitious standards for this.
The Dutch political party GroenLinks proposed a strategy based on four elements: ‘buy open’, ‘make open’, ’stimulate open’ and ‘with(in) the EU if possible’. We would like to adapt these elements, and internationalise them, link them to the WSIS and present them with a development angle.
Use open
- Organisations working in the development sector, both nationally and internationally (e.g. World Bank) and governments should start implementing FLOSS wherever possible.
- Organisations working in the development sector, both nationally and internationally (e.g. World Bank) and governments should be able to exchange documents in open (file-) formats.
Buy open
- By 2008 organisations working in the development sector, both nationally and internationally (e.g. World Bank) and governments should only buy software using open (file-) formats.
- In the meanwhile development projects and organizations that receive funding for software should whenever possible spend this on FLOSS.
Make open
- By 2008 organisations working in the development sector, both nationally and internationally (e.g. World Bank) and governments should set up a fund for southern initiatives for the production of FLOSS.
- The action plan that will be agreed upon at the WSIS should contain funding for southern FLOSS development.
- Software made with development funds, should be available within the public domain (and comply with OSI guidelines).
Stimulate open
- The action plan that will be agreed upon at the WSIS should contain concrete actions for knowledge sharing and training on FLOSS. (An international knowledge centre could be an option)
- By 2008 organisations working in the development sector, both nationally and internationally (e.g. World Bank) and governments should always advocate the use of FLOSS and other modes of knowledge production and sharing
Internationally
- The declaration and action plan that will be agreed upon at the WSIS should refer to FLOSS as a key element in developing an ‘information society for all’
- Organisations working in the development sector, both nationally and internationally (e.g. World Bank) and governments should not wait for international consensus with using, buying, making and stimulating FLOSS but start right now.
The Hague, 25 June 2003 Waag Society & Hivos
June 3rd, 2003
The Interface Design Workshop commenced in Sarai on Monday 27 November. Its aim was to collaborate with the Sarai design team on producing an interface design for public access terminals in Sarai that are to provide information about the activities that take place there.
The design team consisted of Monica, Joy and Ruchika. I had been corresponding with Monica by email in the weeks leading up to the workshop. The content structure of the interface was established a few days before the workshop began.
The beginning
I arrived in the evening of Saturday 25 November. The next day I met Monica, Jeebesh and Shuddhabrata (from the Raqs Media Collective) and Henk (who was also representing the Society for Old and New Media). They showed me around Delhi.
On Monday morning I was introduced to Joy and Ruchika in Sarai. Because Monica was occupied elsewhere, I first discussed our software knowledge with Joy and Ruchika along with the collected visual material that was to inspire us. Once Monica returned, I presented a number of examples of my own work.
On Monday afternoon we discussed the starting points for the interface design, both technical and creative. Apart from the design team mentioned above, those present included Jeebesh, Shuddhabrata and the ‘angry young’ system managers Supreet and Pankaj. At first we talked about the technical possibilities and limitations. Then Monica and I described what we wanted. Our most important goal was to show html pages in a graphic interface that, as far as possible, we could design as we liked rather than using an existing browser with all kinds of unnecessary functionality. This led to considerable confusion concerning the technical feasibility of this ideal. Supreet and Pankaj were soon at each other’s throats about what was or was not possible. Fortunately Henk, who is an expert in both networks and Linux, turned up at the meeting at this point and this made things much clearer.
The solution was to deploy Mozilla, Netscape Navigator’s open source variant, as the browser. The reasons for this choice are as follows:
- Mozilla has a Linux version (Linux is or will become the operating system for almost all the terminals in Sarai);
- Mozilla is open source and can therefore be adapted in many different ways;
- It works with all Navigator’s plug-ins; this means that Flash can also be used.
The discussion then turned to the design’s visual sources of inspiration. Monica and I had corresponded about this in the weeks leading up to the workshop. Independently we had both already thought that, because of their repetitive character, textile patterns may suitable for screen designs (and certainly for html pages). Jeebesh explained that the aim was to include popular imagery in the design. Just as woodcuts used to be the means of distributing images widely, nowadays this role has been taken over by the Web. Sarai’s website includes a text on this subject that’s well worth reading.
Shuddhabrata presented suggestions about how traditional images could serve as navigation elements, and this was followed by a discussion between him and Monica about the use of figurative or abstract icons. Finally almost everyone agreed with Monica that abstract icons were better suited to our project because figurative symbols are liable to suggest the wrong meaning.
The experimental phase
We took a number of decisions concerning the design:
- The home page should include plenty of interactivity. Here, animated buttons would move across the screen with each of them linked to one of the thematic zones. This page should be approachable and entertaining so that inexperienced computer users are challenged to view the interface. When the computers are left unused for several minutes, they will automatically jump back to this page;
- There should be a navigation bar that is always present somewhere on the screen so that you can navigate rapidly between the different zones; • The different zones appear as html pages;
- The titles of the zones must be in both English and Hindi.
The next few days were spent experimenting within this framework with animation, background patterns, colour palettes and typography.
- Animations: After looking through piles of books on traditional Indian art, Monica had found a page of abstract figures with a number of examples that could function as icons for the home page (see the illustration below). We wanted to see if we could use movement to imbue these extremely ancient drawings with a modern sensibility. Joy and Ruchika were mainly involved with preparing these animations in Flash. At first we thought of using morphs so that these traditional figures could change into modern, technical-looking objects. Later we discovered that the animations soon acquired a contemporary feel if we simply gave the figures an intrinsic movement (see the example). Ruchika collected the animations in Flash and tested different ways of letting them move across the screen.
- Backgrounds in html pages: I worked at creating background patterns for html pages that were inspired by textile patterns and carved marble windows from the Moghul period that both Monica and I had frequently photographed. I also experimented with using animated gifs as backgrounds.
- The use of colour: Working on the basis of the deep orange colour that Sarai already uses, we have come up with a colour palette of 30 websafe colours for use in the interface and later on the website. This colour palette has been applied to the background patterns and I have tested them out on photos which in turn has produced some interesting effects.
The colour palette and its use in photos
- Typography: Ruchika and I started working on a lettertype that was based on a photo of a billboard. Here, western letters had been given extra horizontal lines so that they looked like Hindi script. Using Adobe Streamline, we converted the letters into vector files and created a lettertype with Fontographer. However, we ultimately did not use this letter for the interface.
The ‘Hindi’ lettertype
I then looked for a solution for the bilingual headings. Here, the problems for the interface were firstly that headings in two languages take up a lot of space and secondly that the titles vary enormously in length (which creates problems for the layout). Finally I decided to connect the English with the Hindi by extending the horizontal lines in the Hindi script. The same amount of space has been reserved for each title in the navigation bar. The title moves to the left within this space; English and Hindi appear alternately.
The interface’s structure
The structure of the interface needed to be established at around the end of the first week. We decided to divide the screen horizontally into three frames:
- The main frame would be in the middle and would cover approximately 80% of the width of the screen. The home page with the floating icons would appear here first and then be followed by the html pages of the different zones;
- The navigation bar would be to the right; all the buttons referring to the various zones would be located one above another;
- There would be a narrow strip to the left that would always provide access to the home page.
However, this set-up entailed two problems:
1. We wanted to produce both the home page’s floating icons and the navigation bar in Flash but they had to be able to react to each other despite being located in different frames. A mouseover on one of the animations on the home page makes the relevant item appear on the navigation bar. Ultimately we realized that the only solution was that the home page would have to consist of only one frame that would then be split into three frames whenever one of the zones was selected;
2. We wanted to use an animated background like the animated gif on this html page. However, it can’t be done in Flash and simulation would drastically slow down all the animations on the screen. In fact, we did not make the choice between a static background and jerky animations during the workshop.
Completion and presentation
We spent the second week making the separate animations for the home page (which turned out to be more work than expected), creating the headings in Hindi and including them in the navigation bar, and bringing all the different elements together in an html structure. By this time, we had also succeeded in removing in Mozilla everything that we did not want to appear on the screen. We did not have the time to develop the main pages of the separate zones. However, I did succeed in designing their headings and a typographical layout that deploys the colours of our colour palette. Using as much visual material as possible, we presented our ideas about the interface to the entire Sarai staff on Thursday10 December. My impression is that everyone reacted in a positive way.
Arjan Groot
December 20th, 2000
Sarai (delhi) and Waag Society for old and new media(amsterdam) have a strong collaborative link. this takes the form of an active foundation programme wherein media activists and professionals from the society for old and new media spend a considerable period of time at sarai, and collaborate in setting up infrastructure and conducting familiarization programmes & preparatory workshops. by entering into this partnership, we demonstrate new possibilities of collaboration in a cross-cultural context. this presents a model for other such ventures, which arise out of recognition of shared goals for a new media culture that empowers both the people and the environment in which it emerges. the exchange programme consists of a serie of workshops over a period of three years, from 2000 – 2002. they will take place in either india or the netherlands and involve the expertise of the society for old and new media with the practical and virtual organisation of the development of outlets for activism, tools for democratising the use of new media and the design of networks and platforms for collaborations, discussion and learning.
mission statement waag-exchange
the aim of the sarai-waag exchange program is to build a living, critical discourse around the multitude of networks we see emerging – and build networks. sarai and the society for old and new media are reading manuel castells’ description of the “network society” both in a literal and metaphorical way. one does not suddenly arrive in a ready-made network. the global cultural and technological intersecting lines, as in this collaboration between two new media centers in amsterdam and new delhi, are being drawn at this very moment. finances have to be organized, technology installed, content curated. a well functioning interconnected system may be the proud result of the intense exchanges of ideas, software and other resources. yet, the network itself remains fragile and unseen. it is the metaphysical entity of our days (”ceci n’est pas une reseau”). the techno-civic maze always remains under construction. networks are never merely tools. they are sensitive environments, mutating organisms where people and institutions constantly negotiate, question, argue, contribute, feeding each other with an ever growing stream of information. networks are never finished channels of babel. they are an intercultural grid, always in flux, grown out of a never-ending passion for coding and streaming, designing and writing. we have passed the stage of the one-way “technology transfer” and arrived in the age of global collaboration. this is not to say that worldwide economic inequality has all but disappeared overnight due to the arrival of the computer. however, the image of the “digital divide” is a much too passive description for the titanic turmoil caused by proliferation of new technologies on a planetary scale. the drive to communicate and exchange, even under the very difficult circumstances (wars, ethnic conflicts, economic crisis, poverty) is such a powerful one. it is creating instant “cultures of access”, either in the urban sprawls or in the deprived remote areas. it is in the formation of such public media spheres were the interests of the society for old and new media and sarai meet. it is privilege – and challenge – to define and shape such new media cultures.
statement of collaboration:
- sarai, and the sonm will come together as equal partners on a distinctive collaborative programme between the two organisations. they will participate in the building of a shared agenda on the new media between the netherlands and india, between europe and south asia, and between north and south.
- the collaboration recognises the different economic and social situations of the two societies. as a collaboration based on mutual respect and solidarity, we recognize that there is no contradiction between our different histories and the effort to build a shared agenda on the new media.
- the sarai – sonm collaboration will take the form of joint setting up of the public space in delhi, a joint initiative that will provide content through the entire three-year period of the proposed programme.
- both sarai and sonm recognise that this collaboration will herald a new relationship between the new media cultures of south asia and europe. despite the fact that india is one of the largest software producers in the world, knowledge of dutch and european media innovations is limited. the sonm’s public presence shall open a new chapter in new media collaboration and knowledge of european media developments.
- every aspect of the sarai – sonm collaboration is informed by a recognition that new media practice will attend to issues of inequality, social difference, freedom of information, and empowerment.
- the sarai – sonm joint agenda is committed to the defence of human rights and the right of all citizens to information.
editors of the waag sarai-exchange:
ravi sundaram | co-director, sarai. co-ordinator: sarai-waag exchange programme
ravi vasudevan | co-director, sarai. co-ordinator: archival and research projects
saumya gupta | programme and research co-ordinator
jeebesh bagchi | infrastructure co-ordinator. media lab.
monica narula | co-ordinator: media lab. multimedia projects.
shuddhabrata sengupta | co-ordinator: outreach. february event. publications. mapping the city
marleen stikker | director of waag society – waag labs
geert lovink | co-ordinator exchange-programme, february event. publications
patrice riemens | new media theorist-activist
bart tunnissen | financial co-ordinator
floor van spaendonck | producer exchange-programme
support
the waag-sarai exchange is supported by the dutch ministry of foreign affairs, the daniel langlois foundation (canada) and the hivos culture foundation
The Central Commitie
November 11th, 2000