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TML Day 01
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Barsamian, who happened to be visiting Delhi at the time was invited by Sarai to open the Tactical Media Lab, which he did with a very inspiring invocation to media activists to be positive, energetic, creative and humorous and not turn into moaners with dwindling audiences. The conversation with him led to a very lively discussion in which the question of "free speech", particularly in conflict ridden societies like South Asia's was actively discussed. The TML got off to a very active and lively start as a result of this and through the next few days the importance of free expression, new ways of reaching the public domain and the necessity to be inventive and creative recurred several times in the conversations and presentations. The afternoon of the first day featured presentations by the people at Sarai working on the Cybermohalla (Cyber Neighbourhood) Project. Shveta, Ruchika Negi, Mrityunjoy Chatterjee and Ashish Mahajan from Sarai, with Azra Tabassum from the LNJP colony Cybermohalla Compughar, talked about the processes involved in setting up digital media labs using free software in the LNJP squatter settlement and the Ambedkar Nagar Resettlement Colony in Delhi. Issues of access, technological flexibility, creativity and different ways of looking at the city were discussed. Shveta presented some of the work done by the Cybermohalla project, Mrityunjoy and Ashish spoke of the software and hardware configurations involved in operationalizing each lab, Ruchika read from the journal that she is keeping of her interactions with people on the street, and Azra spoke of how the process works to steadily remove layers of fear in terms of her engagement with the urban environment. Following this, Pradip Saha, Managing Editor, Down to Earth, spoke briefly about using humour and subversive fun as an essential element in designing an effective communication strategy by activists. This intervention was followed by a panel composed of Shekhar Krishan, PUKAR, along with Sanjay Bhangar from Indymedia, Mumbai; Arun Mehta, telecommunications engineer and internet activist; Parthapratim Sarkar of the Bytesforall Network, from Dhaka, and Shilpa Gupta, from the Open Circle Artists' Collective in Mumbai. Each presentation featured candid discussions on the possibilities and limitations of media activism in South Asia. While the panelists were often of the opinion that, barring very specialist fora, online discussion lists have not taken off as expected in South Asia, they emphasized the need to develop effective communication strategies that engaged with public concerns in a demonstrably public manner. The Indymedia Mumbai group spoke of their efforts to involve communication students in the university to develop an effective web presence, especially in the context of online actions commemorating the anniversary of the Bhopal Disaster of 1984, in tandem with the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, earlier this year. Arun Mehta spoke of the feasibility of low-cost and low-tech strategies for radio as a tool for building sustainable, community controlled communications networks in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh in South India. Gaurab Upadhyay from Bytesforall, Kathmandu, intervened with his experience of alternate radio networks in Nepal and discussions revolved around how to use the technology, and available networks, to suit urban conditions. Parthapratim Sarkar, spoke about the experience of building the Bytesforall network, which he initiated from Dhaka, together with Fredrick Noronha, who is based in India. Bytesforall has now grown into a pro-active South Asia wide network for people interested in the social usage of information and communication technologies. He led us through the evolution of Bytesforall as an online forum where technicians, activists, and people interested in the issues of development network and brainstorm together. He also pointed out how discussions on Bytesforall have, by being focused on concrete and practicial issues, and by discussing all matters in a spirit of knowledge-sharing as peers, have so far managed to transcend the fractious 'political' barriers that exist in South Asia. Shilpa Gupta from the Open Circle collective talked of public art intervention experiments that she and some members of her group have been involved in, especially the Aar Paar Projects that brought together artists from India and Pakistan for exchanges of portable art objects and posters which were then exhibited in tea stalls, grocery stores, and other public spaces. She also spoke about the another artist- led initiative called "The Reclaim Your Freedom Week" earlier this year in response to, and in protest against, the violence in Gujarat in March 2002. The discussions that followed the presentations focused on the need for creating an active discursive community of artists, practitioners and others that could step out of the "responding to events" syndrome that seems to characterize much of artist/practitioner inspired activism, in order to move towards more sustained forms of public-practitioner interfaces that draw on the energies of everyday forms of resistance and communication. Event-centred protests, often take on a "token" character, even as they sap the energies of the artists/practitioners/activists who get involved, and also lead to hierarchies of people who "deliver a message" as opposed to people who passively "receive a message".
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