Talk and workshop by Nestor Siré og Steffen Köhn: “Reorganizing the Internet: Reimagining digital culture from a Global South perspective”

[English below]

Du inviteres til en talk og workshop med de to kunstneriske forskere Nestor Siré og Steffen Köhn, som en del af programserien "Experts of the Undercommon" arrangeret af forfatter, forsker og redaktør Tobias Dias, postdoc ved Aarhus Universitet, i samarbejde med Kunsthal Aarhus.

Det er gratis at deltage, men vi anbefaler at sikre sig en plads ved at booke en gratis billet her på Billetto.

OM TALKEN OG WORKSHOPPEN
Det cubanske folks adgang til internettet og digital teknologi har længe været begrænset af regeringens frygt for informations- og ytringsfrihed, samt den mest varige og afstraffende handelsembargo i moderne historie. Dette har gjort øen til et af de mindst forbundne lande i verden indtil for blot få år siden. Mens landets internet stadig er præget af langsom hastighed, høje omkostninger og utilstrækkelig infrastruktur, har cubanerne fundet opfindsomme måder at kompensere for manglen på internetforbindelse og overkommelige priser ved at skabe massive vernakulære infrastrukturer såsom græsrodssamfundets computernetværk eller "sneakernets", hvor information overføres ved fysisk at transportere bærbare harddiske og USB-sticks.

I denne artist talk og workshop giver Steffen Köhn og Nestor Siré indblik i deres kunstneriske forskning om cubanske alternative digitale infrastrukturer, der har resulteret i interaktive installationer, videokunst og et dokumentarisk mobilspil udviklet i samarbejde med cubanske producentfælleskaber. Deres arbejde udforsker, hvordan globale digitale teknologier bliver "lokaliserede" og approprierede i forskellige kulturelle og politiske sammenhænge. Den praktiske workshop vil tage udgangspunkt i Cubas "offline internet" El Paquete Semanal (Ugepakken) med henblik på i fællesskab at forestille sig alternative former for organisering og distribution af digitale data. Mens fortidens åbne web har forvandlet sig til vores nuværende kapitalistiske konsumeristiske internet af lukkede platforme, hvor vi bliver fodret med indhold, der er blevet skræddersyet til vores algoritmisk bestemte individuelle interesser, giver sådanne vernakulære infrastrukturer os mulighed for at forestille os en mere decentraliseret, kollektivt og ikke-kommercielle brug af internettet.

Læs mere her: https://kunsthalaarhus.dk/da/E...

Foredraget er støttet af Novo Nordisk Fonden.

Billede: Courtesy af Nestor Siré & Steffen Köhn.

[English]

You are invited to participate in a talk and workshop by the two artist researchers Nestor Siré and Steffen Köhn, that is part of the program series "Experts of the Undercommon" organized by writer, researcher and editor Tobias Dias, postdoc at Aarhus University, in collaboration with Kunsthal Aarhus.

Participation is free, but we recommend securing a seat by taking out a free ticket here on Billetto.

ABOUT THE TALK AND WORKSHOP
Cuban people’s access to the Internet and digital technology has long been restricted by their government’s fear of freedom of information and expression, as well as by the most enduring and punitive trade embargo in modern history. This has made the island one of the least connected countries in the world until only a few years ago. While the country’s internet is still characterized by slow speed, high cost, and inadequate infrastructure, Cubans have found ingenious ways to compensate for the lack of internet connectivity and affordability by creating massive vernacular infrastructures such as grassroots community computer networks or “sneakernets” in which information is transferred by physically transporting portable hard drives and USB memory sticks.

In this artist talk and workshop, Steffen Köhn and Nestor Siré give insights into their artistic research about Cuban alternative digital infrastructures that has resulted in interactive installations, video art, and a documentary mobile game developed in collaboration with Cuban maker communities. Their work explores how global digital technologies become “localized” or appropriated in different cultural and political contexts. The practical workshop will take Cuba’s “offline Internet” El Paquete Semanal (The Weekly Package) as a point of departure to collectively think about alternative forms of organizing and distributing digital data. As the open web of the past has given way to our current capitalist consumerist internet of closed platforms in which we are fed content that has been tailored to our algorithmically determined individual interests, such vernacular infrastructures allow us to envision more decentralized, collective, and non-commercial iterations of the web.

Read more here: https://kunsthalaarhus.dk/da/E...

The talk is supported by Novo Nordisk Fonden.

Image: Courtesy Nestor Siré & Steffen Köhn.