<nettime> Delhi Cybermohalla Project

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

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

---------- Forwarded message ----------


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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