[Nettime-bold] Delhi Cybermohalla Project

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

>From the Sarai-Reader & BytesForAll lists. 
(apologies to the X-posted!)

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dear all,

the cybermohalla project of sarai turned one year old in may 2002. the 
following is an introduction to the project, included in galiyon se/by lanes 
(http://www.sarai.net/community/cybermohalla/book01/bylanes.htm),
 a first book publication from cybermohalla. 

looking forward to an engaged discussion,
best,
shveta

--------------------------------------------------------

About Cybermohalla

Cybermohalla, the word, suggests a hybrid location. It has the open-endedness 
of cyberspace, qualified by the local specificities and intimacy of a 
mohalla, or a dense urban neighbourhood. Sarai's Cybermohalla project takes 
on the meaning of the word mohalla, its sense of alleys and corners, its 
sense of relatedness and concreteness, as a means for talking about one's 
'place' in the city, and in cyberspace. 

One can approach the Cybermohalla project from many directions. One can begin 
with a critique of the technological imagination and the expressive universe 
of the dominant mediascape, and then go on to map a counter strategy which 
grounds itself on access, sharing and democratic extensibility. One can see 
it as an experiment to engage with media technologies and software 
'tactically' and create multiple local media contexts emerging within the 
larger media network that the Internet seems to engender. Still further, one 
can see it as an engagement with local history, experiences, modes of 
expression and creativity.

In its broadest imagination, one can see Cybermohalla as a desire for a wide 
and horizontal network (both real and virtual) of voices, texts, sounds and 
images in dialogue and debate. 'Public'-ation modes are and will be as 
diverse as wall magazines, books, posters, stickers, web pages, audio 
streams, animation, etc. The present technological juncture provides a 
possibility - the point is to actualize it.

Currently, Cybermohalla has as its physical co-ordinates Sarai and a Media Lab 
(Compughar) at LNJP basti, Delhi. A working class settlement that is under 
constant threat of dislocation, the basti is in the heart of the city though 
invisible to Delhi's many millions. Compughar, started in May 2001, is a 
small media lab running on free software and low cost media equipment, and is 
a collaborative effort between Sarai and Ankur, an NGO working 
for the last two decades in experimental education. 

The young people (mainly young women) who come to the Compughar are between 
the ages of 15 to 23. Most of them are school irregulars and dropouts. Their 
writings can be seen as a database of narrative, comment, observation, word 
play and reflection.To us their writngs evoke a sense of the everyday that 
gestures towards an intricate social ecology. We invite you to enjoy and 
engage with this specific mode of writing the city.

Jeebesh Bagchi
------------------------------------------

Cybermohalla is an experimental collaborative initiative between Ankur, a 
Delhi based NGO and Sarai, for the creation of nodes of popular digital 
culture in Delhi . The Compughar (Media Lab) is located in LNJP basti, a 
working class settlement in Central Delhi.

Write to cybermohalla@sarai.net
About Cybermohalla: www.sarai.net

Galiyon Se / by lanes: 
http://www.sarai.net/community/cybermohalla/book01/bylanes.htm


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