LabforCulture

A good question for the 2011 Free Culture Forum: now that internet has done so much for us, what can we do in return?

2011 has seen viral uprising of civil society in many parts of the world, from the Arabic revolutions to the ongoing global movements for political and economic change. Internet and digital networks have been crucial to make all this happen: to let people gather, share knowledge and ideas and to mobilise in an entirely decentralised way.

In Spain, where file-sharing is defined as legal, civil society mobilised fiercely in 2010 to defend a neutral internet. The Manifesto in Defense of Fundamental Rights on the Internet was signed by 150.000 internet users every day, and a number of other online initiatives emerged, allowing citizens to become part of the movement  – which they did on a large scale. Eventually, the “Sinde Act”, an amendment which potentially would lead to a number of sites being closed down, was voted down in the House of Representatives. This was a victory for the citizens and the so called #15M movement.

The 2011 Free Culture Forum is about to take place in Barcelona, 27-30 October. Participants will analyse the Spanish example as being the starting point of a R-evolution, and investigate its potential at a global level. What can we do to defend the right to share via internet? What new sustainable models can we set up  for the creation of culture?  How can we improve the efficient use of internet to achieve direct participation? These and other questions will be discussed, leading to recommendations and tools to potentiate a R-evolution. 

The forum is free and open to anyone who is interested in these issues. Find out more about the 2011 FCForum: Networks for a R-evolution here.

Free Culture Forum is supported by ECF/LabforCulture.

Last year we investigated how artists respond to climate change. Here is a closer look at a few more artistic projects that we have added to our mapping.

Make a Forest is a global collaborative art and design project that sets to create a link between nature and culture. The project invites cultural organisations all over the world to work together with artists and designers to grow a virtual forest, tree by tree. Can one artificial tree make a difference locally, and many artificial trees globally?

Make a Forest was launched in March 2011 and is endorsed by the United Nations 2011 International Year of the Forest. Forests are not only the home and the livelihood to millions and billions of people on this globe, they also represent aestethic, spiritual and cultural values, intangible but priceless. Trees represent life itself, and are also a source of inspiration for many artists.

The project has also initiatied the Tree One Minutes: Make a portrait of your favourite tree in a one minute video - the first deadline is 1 October 2011, so there is still time to submit! The videos will form a collective video art work, with the first preview at the Dutch Design Week Eindhoven (22-30 October 2011).

Other projects to explore, these ones around islands:

La Isla Hundida (The Drowned Island) offers a creative way to engage artists to work with school children, to illustrate the immediate threat of rising sea levels in the Maldives. The projects was launched in December 2010 during the UN Climate Change Conference COP16 in Cancun, Mexico.

The idea is simple: you make an island from a newspaper page and then watch it sink in water. The project can be multiplied on local level, anyone who wants to do this – schools, educational institutions, artists, parents – can find the instructions and videos on the website.

Contemporary Art Archipelago (CAA) is an art exhibition across the isles of the archipelago of Turku, Finland. The islands are rock solid, however, the Baltic Sea is often referred to as the most polluted sea in the world. The project deals with a range of aspects of island lifestyles and the ecological changes of the Baltic Sea. The exhibition builds on artistic research that started in 2009, involving artists and the local archipelago community. It is part of the Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture programme, and runs until the end of September. CAA will constitute a basis for continued discussions to ensure a sustainable future.

ECF is looking for a freelance web editor for its Narratives for Europe online space. This space presents reflections, opinions and views - in words or images- on the new stories emerging from all over our changing continent, these ‘Narratives’ which contribute to shaping future Europe.

The responsibilities of the editor are to:

• Gather, produce or edit and upload information on the digital space


• Contact and coordinate digital space contributors


• Develop new initiatives for the space in regular consultation with the small editorial committee


• Liaise with other ECF colleagues, especially the communications team

We are looking for someone with journalistic skills, a creative mind and experience in digital/social media, and with a background and strong interest in European (cultural) issues.

Learn more about it here (deadline: 24 August 2011).