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"World-Information City" Bangalore November 2005 ******************************************************************* "World-Information City", Bangalore November 2005 "In what ways do new technologies transform society? What is the impact of these technologies on daily life, work, culture and politics? What happens when identity and labor merge? How do new information technologies reshape the very idea of the city? Within the realm of information politics the concern has been over the expansionist tendencies of intellectual property laws, for the digital public domain, the digital ecology and commons- how do these conceptual resources translate in relation to the city? Can for instance the metaphor of the enclosure be used as much to understand digital processes as urban development?" These are some of the important question that will be debated at World-Information City Bangalore. 2005 will see the first staging of World-Information.Org's extensive program outside of Europe. Responding to a vibrant media culture that has emerged in South Asia over the past years, World-Information.Org will present its exhibition, conference and workshop program in India's famous center of the IT industry. "World-Information City" is a joint effort of European and South Asian civil society, a global cooperation rooted in the diversity of Bangalore's Information Society projects and realized in collaboration with Alternative Law Forum and Mahiti, profiting from contributions by local artists and culture projects. *************************************************************************** The one-week event is going to take place at various locations in Bangalore from 13- 20 November, 2005. * World-Information Conference – 17-18 November, 2005 The two-day conference will host distinguished international and local speakers, including Saskia Sassen and David Lyon, and will focus on the culture of 'Open Source' as well as on issues of ‚Intellectual Property'. Special attention will be paid to urban issues, i.e. how the city is affected by the IT-economy, and to issues of information control and surveillance. Up to 1.000 participants are expected to take part in the event in Bangalore, live streaming will enable a wider international audience to follow the conference proceedings. * World-Information Workshops – 14-20 November 2005 A number of workshops relating to World-Information City's main issues will be organised together with various local institutions and initiatives such as the Alternative Law Forum, Mahiti, and the Srishti School of Arts. Topics covered in these sessions will include open access to scientific knowledge, economy of the commons, control society and IP, FLOSS, and urban issues. Additionally, open sound (making electronic with simple means) and broadsheet-making workshops will be offered as well as guided tours (eg. Solomon Benjamin's "The Urbanist's Magic Bus Tour") dealing with the more recent urban developments of the new 'Silicon Valley' of India. Additionally, a one-day trip to the VOICES village radio project Number 20 is planned. The outcome of these workshops will find entry into the conference program. * World-Information Exhibition – 14-20 November 2005 The World-Information Exhibition in Bangalore's Cubbon Park outlines the emergence and influence of worldwide communication and information networks on various aspects of society and everyday life. Through exhibits and visual diagrams, interactive installations and digital artworks it describes the multifaceted interrelations between technology and society, politics, culture, art, and economy. A focus will be put on local and Indian artists although also works by international artists will be displayed. The exhibition includes Sarai's A/S/L-project and Network of No-Des as well as interactive media installations. Srishti School of Arts will participate in the project whose curators will be Ayesha Abraham and Kieran Subbaja. Due to the concept of a disaggregated exhibition, it takes the visitors on a tour through the city- public space is transformed into and re-examined as the location of the exhibition. Guided tours by students as well as renowned specialists in open source and IP theory will be available. * World-Information Public Outreach Program – 13-20 November 2005 The World-Information Public Outreach Program aims to raise awareness on issues of the information society in the public sphere and will introduce these themes into the urban environment of Bangalore. Various media interventions will be located in different parts of the city. Along with billboards, posters, stickers and traditional Indian media forms like cut-outs, banners over streets and wall paintings, the use of monitors and digital displays will present key messages. * World-Information Events – 19 November 2005 A final event will present results of the workshops and will demonstrate the successful cooperation of European and Asian artists creatively using new media: electronic multimedia performances artists (eg. Thought Thieves) will show a broad variety of artistic practice in the digital realm and will draw attention to recent developments in the electronic music scene. * World-Information City Publication The publication will present a collection of articles, interviews and essays relating to the projects research. The 30.000 copies of the World-Information City publication will also be distributed in Europe and Asia as well as at events related to the World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis November 2005. * World-Information City Programme Folder There will be an exhibition folder conceived as a broadsheet attached to the newspaper. The folder will function as a map of the city with an integrated map of the IT-corridor, showing all exhibition locations as well as other points of interest. * World-Information Website The World-Information Website functions as a source of information and as an important dissemination tool for the entire project, including detailed information on the various events, lectures and the participants as well as an archive of the Bangalore proceedings. www.world-information.org ************************************************************** WORLD-INFORMATION.ORG World-Information.Org was initiated by the Institute for New Culture Technologies/t0 and is a collaboration of a wide range of international experts, theoreticians and practitioners. Since the launch of the project under the patronage of UNESCO as a theme of the European Cultural Capital 2000 in Brussels, World-Information.Org staged its extensive exhibition and conference program in Vienna, Amsterdam, Belgrade, and Novi Sad and presented at various European cities like London, Berlin, Munich and Helsinki. World-Information.Org's services are designed to foster and protect the public sphere and discourse and focus on the issues of future heritage, digital ecology, and digital human rights. Mahiti Infotech Pvt. Ltd. #314/1, 2nd Floor, VijayKiran building 7th cross, Domlur Layout, Bangalore, India - 560 071 Phone: +91 80 5115 0580/1/2/3 Fax: +91 80 51150583 Mobile: +91 98455 12611 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************** PARTNERS and ASSOCIATED PARTNERS "World-Information City" will be offered as part of the EU-India-ECCP-Programme "Towards a Culture of Open Networks – a collaborative initiative on bridging information society in Europe and India through culture and communication". www.opencultures.net Partner organizations include: Institute for New Culture Technologies/ t0 www.t0.or.at Sarai CSDS, Delhi http://www.sarai.net Waag Society, Amsterdam http://www.waag.org The Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore http://www.altlawforum.org Mahiti, Bangalore http://www.mahiti.org The Srishti School of Arts, Bangalore http://www.srishtiblr.org + local partners "World-Information City" is realized with the financial support of the European Union (EU-India-ECCP-Programme), the City of Vienna - Department for Cultural Affairs, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO, the Open Society Institute (OSI), and Max Mueller Bhavan (Goethe Institute) Bangalore. Anivar Aravind GAIA -- __ __ gnu /noo/ n. Ox like antelope; (abbr.) /gnoo/ n. (recursive acronym) Gnu's Not Unix.
