my friend john (foaf) converted a warehouse into a performance / event space called Lightspace in Brisbane. it looks so beautiful. he's done so well! http://bit.ly/4V5AeS I've always wanted to do that. am so jealous! oh the performances he's going to have there. studios upstairs too & coffee. I'd add music & book library. in fact I'd prob just move in upstairs and live there too. might be a bit noisy when the gigs are on though. anyone got a spare couple of mill? & I'd add a little private cinema / projection space - like third-ear in jerusalem http://bit.ly/6ngzGf (they're upstairs in a dvd store) but other than that it'd look like lightspace. perfect. maybe less glam as I have no $ ;) I have notebooks full of little drawings of a space and the things it'd have. one day maybe... I hope he does well with it - he deserves it. good luck! so if anyone needs a nice space for an event in Bris, let him know..

http://lightspacebrisbane.wordpress.com
http://www.lightspace.net.au

here's the blurb from the lightspace website's about page :

Lightspace is a new event, education and exhibition venue located in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Hatched from a converted warehouse its features include lofty warehouse spaces, rustic industrial chic and an outdoor terrace with views across the city skyline.

Lightspace provides the ideal blank canvas for functions, events, product launches, fashion parades, exhibitions, photo shoots, video clips, weddings, parties, anything you can imagine…

Lightspace Studios offer open–plan office space with flexible, affordable tenancies – ideally suited to small creative industry businesses. The lofty, edgy interior design provides a range of personal and communal spaces. Converted shipping containers have become the shell for the shared meeting room, bathrooms, shower and kitchen. A roof terrace delivers sweeping views of the city and Valley. Tenants have access to all facilities. If you’re in Brisbane, creative and looking for cool warehouse space then send us a message…

Contact Lightspace:
enquiries @ lightspace.net.au (remove spaces)
30 Light Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

Squat Space was born from the energy of artists and activists of the Broadway Squats.

The organisers cleared out an old locksmith shop and launched a dynamic art and event space in December 2000. The gallery played host to political film screenings, free dinners, durational performances, experimental sound nights, site-specific installations...

SquatSpace opposed the standard "pay-as-you-show" system used by many high-rent artist-run-galleries in Sydney. Exhibiting was free, with artists usually becoming involved in the life of the squatting community in some way.

in January if you look at the sky in Delhi (& likely other parts of India) you'll see the kids on the roof of the apartment buildings flying kites. they do this in the festival season

this evening as we were leaving I saw a boy on a roof near the road flying a kite so I grabbed the camera

sorry I probably didn't explain it properly and the guys I was with didn't want to speak on camera

in january there's a kite festival - in delhi on this day there's more kites than birds in the sky and children on the flat roofs of the apartment blocks flying the kites. so I always look out for them now. but there seems to be less other times of the year. so this was a nice surprise across the road from the office as we were leaving work this afternoon - to see a boy flying a kite and a few others in the sky.

this video was taken in mumbai but I've spent more time in delhi - so it's always interesting to see the similarities / differences in the different cities, as the languages, religions and some customs are different in different regions in india.

from :
http://www.liveindia.com/rajasthan/2.html

Kite Festival
14 January is celebrated in India as Makar Sankranti - heralding the transition of the sun into the Northern hemisphere. It is also a big kite day in most parts of India when children from 6 to 60 can be seen with their heads turned to the sky. In Jaipur kites virtually blot out the sky. Everyone joins in this riotous celebration and shouts of " Woh Kata Hai !" reverberate from rooftops to the accompaniment of drums as adversaries’ kites are cut down. And everyone’s an adversary! Any kite in the sky is fair game.

:::

21/11/2008
mumbai / bombay
india

blog post :
http://www.aliak.com/content/vlomo08-day21-kids-kites

http://vimeo.com/2306000

http://blip.tv/file/1492895

looking for digital arts, new media & urban research projects or exhibitions in mumbai - I'm only here for 2 weekends so might not make it to any festivals. here's some I found so far - some are past projects & some are not strictly mumbai based but I came across them whilst following links for mumbai related items

:::

Comet Media & COSMOS
a non profit group working in educational communication & new media. they have festivals, projects & publications
http://www.cometmedia.org
http://groups.google.com/group/cosmos_mumbai
upcoming events
aliak.com Comet & Cosmos page

:::

Digital artists - THE WEBMUSEUM CYBERCULTURE RESEARCH LIBRARY page
http://www.lastplace.com/page177.htm

:::

CRIT
http://crit.org.in

Australia's largest festival of experimental electronic arts and culture, "Electrofringe", will burst through the cracks of Newcastle from October 2 – 6, 2008, for its eleventh year as part of "This Is Not Art". More than 100 emerging and established artists from Australia and overseas will take part in 80 events over five days including workshops, gigs, screenings, performance and public intervention.

Electrofringe in 2008 brims with new ventures. These include an artists-in-residence program and a three-week interactive media exhibition. New program gems include a hybrid media/dance performance, an all-girls soldering workshop, a chorus composed for Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, an audiovisual "love-in", and a chamber recital for robots.

Special international guests include Birchville Cat Motel (NZ), Domenico Sciajno (Italy), xtine (US), The League of Imaginary Scientists (everywhere) and The Green Eyl & Sengewald (Germany). Japan is well represented by elongated harshcore musician Maruosa, noise artists Pig & Machine, and experimental multi-instrumentalist KK NULL.

Electrofringe 2008 features an impressive screening program including award-winning highlights from the Japan Media Arts Festival and SIGGRAPH 2008, surround-sound selections from New York's Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Centre and eclectic works from France’s Arcadi festival. There are also two specially curated screening reels called ElectroEtre and ElectroProjections compiled from open, international call-outs.

Head to: www.electrofringe.net for more details, and see you in Newcastle!

Electrofringe 2008 is directed by Alex White, Elmar Trefz and Somaya Langley.

-- electrofringe & the other festivals as part of This is Not Art are my favourite festivals in the world - very grassroots. Newcastle becomes abuzz with creativity and people at this time of year. I hope you can all check them out this year!

GPS Film is new media artwork from filmmaker Scott Hessels that invents a new way of watching movies based on the viewer's location and movement. Using a GPS-enabled PDA or mobile phone, the audience creates a new type of film experience that reveals the story through their journey. Released as a free, open-source application, the project will premiere on 4 September 2008 along with the first film made specifically for the system, Singaporean filmmaker Kenny Tan's chase comedy "Nine Lives".

The GPS Film application, source code, and "Nine Lives" are available for free download on the project website www.gpsfilm.com. The application allows for a developer to create story spaces of any size. The movies are also interchangeable and easily matched to any place. The software default is currently "Nine Lives"—a prototype film comedy that can unfold in nine directions depending on the viewer's journey around downtown Singapore.

Scott Hessels is an internationally recognised media artist and filmmaker who merges cinema with new technologies to create innovative media experiences. For GPS Film, he collaborated with film and engineering students at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

The project uses emerging technologies to bring story into real space; neighborhoods, architecture, and landscapes become part of the cinema experience. Movies can be personalized and localized. Storytelling becomes a physical, viewer-controlled experience; a journey of fiction ties directly to a journey of fact.

A press conference will be held Thursday, 4 September at Kay Ngee Tan Architects Gallery with the artist, filmmakers, and programmers present as well as handheld devices for demonstration. The presentation starts at 2pm, but the device will be available for trial and demonstration till 4pm.

read more for details

Cross St Studios is an artist-run space, organized by young artists. It acts as a hub for networking as to nurture an emerging artist community. Cross St Studios will function as a platform for encouraging professional practices. It is an incubator for ideas that can be easily generated, executed and exhibited. Our emphasis is on creating the freedom to experiment with unconventional ideas and presenting them to a public audience.

http://www.crossstreetstudios.com

Please be advised that on Friday 22nd + Saturday 23rd February, 2008, there will be three Cardboard Planetariums installed throughout the Sydney CBD, rain, hail or shine. You are very much invited. Details of exact locations will be advised on THE JUNE FOX website on Thursday 21st Feb.

The splendor of the night sky has been a source of wonder, discovery and agitation for our species throughout human history. The observation of the heavens has defined religions, revolutionized scientific thought, guided navigators, and inspired countless mythologies. It has been said that 'they who cannot see the night sky, cannot see...'

Salon Mazal was established in 2001, in Tel Aviv, Israel, by a group of social-environmental activists. Salon Mazal is a non-for-profit registered charity that serves as an information distribution center for social, environmental and political change The place functions as a store (including books, magazines and fair-trade products), a lending library, an artist gallery, a vegetarian bar and a community center where movie screenings, lectures, workshops and meetings take place.

The place is run in line with anarchist ideology and values, which encourage an egalitarian, non-hierarchical community. Salon Mazal is run by a group of volunteers. Consensus decision-making is used to promote the expression of individual voices within the group in daily meetings.

Hidden away on the Watch/Listen section of the the Darrren Hayes website is a link saying Found a Bird?. What is this you ask?

It's a project on the neonbird website involving writing a wish inside a folded note / paper bird & leaving it for a stranger to find. Write the NEONBIRD.COM website on the outside of the note, then take a photo of it & where you left it. Upload the photo to the Made a Bird page.

The person who finds your wish can visit the website and claim their bird.

It's a bit like geocaching but you don't need a gps. And a bit like bluetoothing but you don't need a bluetooth device. And a bit like leaving books in public spaces, but you get to check the website and see what happened to your wish and see how far it went.

Full details are on the http://www.neonbird.com/something-wonderful/ website.

when I finished my work project in Delhi last year, I was taken out for lunch by some of the people I worked with. the lunch was really nice, we went to Gurgaon, to a Chinese restuarant. part of the conversation as we were leaving was about how places in Delhi were being rebuilt. I mentioned I'd heard about settlements / villages being torn down and the people relocated to other areas of Delhi, some of them not given new land or payment for their old homes. one of the guys from work said this wasn't true - that the government couldn't take away people's homes without paying them for it or relocating them. so, I was confused then, which was true? here's a few links to articles I've found about it - most are related to the sarai project - Nangla Blog. Nangla Machi was one of the locations used for Sarai's Cybermohalla project prior to it's schedule for demolition.

In Delhi's makeover plans the poor find no place - from Express India

and also New Delhi's facelift pushing away the poor

I suspect the hurry to relocate areas of Delhi could be related to Delhi hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games and attempting to beautify the city in time for the arrival of overseas visitors.

from the Finances page of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games bid history page

and from Channel 4's website :
India's Commonwealth Games quest

I'm not sure Delhi will be transformed this quickly. And to what extent the impact of the speed of these changes will have on the local people and communities.

some videos of the Nangla Machi residents applying for the paperwork to ensure they are relocated

Art Law Forum notice of Supreme Court order for the demolition of Nangla Machi

the Nangla Blog has many more articles and stories from the people living in Nangla Machi

I'm back in Auckland again for work, and have been catching up on emails over the Easter weekend break. A couple of emails to the Sarai reader list have led me to read about workers in Gurgaon (an industrial city with many call centres near Delhi) and watch videos from Indian women in villages producing their own video magazines.

---

The first email was a blog post by Shivam Vij called "Who is a Bairagi?" asking questions about OBC (other backward classes) in India and do people there really know who these people are and how they live. The post was from a journalist who sometimes writes for Tehelka (the people's paper). The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has lists of names / castes for people classified as OBC. The Delhi list can be found here and full list for Indian regions found here. There's even a Questionnaire for consideration of requests for Inclusion and complaints of Under-Inclusion of backward classes in Central list - criteria such as Social, Economic and Educational.

---

Another email to sarai reader list highlighted a new law resource in India - Between Law and Justice: A Law and Society Reader, a DVD database with (so far) over 400 articles on topics such as :

1. Legal histories
Colonial
Postcolonial
2. Constitutional promises and perils
3. Siting struggles: human rights and social justice
4. Roti, kapadda aur makaan: law, livelihood and development
5. Supreme, yet fallible
6. Crime and punishment
7. Access to justice
8. Citizens/denizens
9. Edge of desire: law, gender and sexuality
10. In a minority
11. Green justice
12. Media law & free speech
13. Governance
14. Life of law amidst globalisation
15. Legal education
16. Interdisciplinary challenges
17. International law

---

Another email was a promo for a new documentary :

"INDIA UNTOUCHED - Stories of a People Apart" is a new documentary directed by Stalin K. and produced by Drishti. Drishti is a a collective of film & documentary makers in India.

Video Volunteers is part of the Creative Visions foundation and aims to setup Community Video Units and train local Community Video Producers to produce video magazines based on local issues which are screened monthly in 25 villages reaching more than 10000 people in these communities. Members of the communities speak about what matters to them and the CVU allows them to have a voice which is then shared with other members of the community.

http://videovolunteers.org/
http://videovolunteers.org/videogallery.php - to view the videos

India's Frontline magazine has a story about Video Volunteers.

http://videovolunteers.org/video_change.php

Other related organisations helping to teach people video making skills in India are :

Barefoot Workshops, a not-for-profit media and music based educational organization where adults and youth are taught video, photography, music, and art as a way to document their surroundings, make change in the world, and most importantly, make change within themselves.

Velugu is the largest poverty project in the state working in over 860 mandals in 22 districts and aims to reach 29 lakhs (1 lakh = 100 000) of the poorest of rural poor. Velugu enhances the poor's capacities to manage their resources and helps access public services. SERP's uniqueness is in the blend of professionals and trained activists working at the grassroots. SERP has committed professionals, Community Coordinators who are working with the poor communities. It also creates the necessary critical mass by building the social capital through facilitating the identification of community activists and trains them as barefoot professionals, as paravets, botanists, social activists etc. This cadre of rural development professionals are managed by the mandal federations.

Creative Visions - The Creative Visions Foundation was inspired by the life of Dan Eldon -- artist, adventurer and activist - who was killed in 1993 while covering the conflict in Somalia as a photojournalist for Reuters News Agency. He was 22. Founded by his family and friends, CVF is a publicly supported 501 (c) (3) organization that supports "creative activists" like Dan -- social entrepreneurs who use media, technology and the arts to create awareness of environmental, social or humanitarian issues -- and inspire positive change.

Workshop @ Sarai: FLOSS Fellowships Final Presentations

Translocations 1: New media practices in the urban context

17th and 24th November 2006,Seminar Room, Sarai-CSDS

Facilitated by Tapio Makela, researcher and artist in residence at Sarai

This workshop looks at new media practices in urban contexts.

The introductory session will take place at SARAI/CSDS seminar room on Friday, November 17th 11.00-13.00/14.00-16.00.

Second session on November 24th, same time.

http://www.sarai.net

Workshop @ Sarai: FLOSS Fellowships Final Presentations

Translocations 1: New media practices in the urban context

17th and 24th November 2006,Seminar Room, Sarai-CSDS

Facilitated by Tapio Makela, researcher and artist in residence at Sarai

This workshop looks at new media practices in urban contexts.

The introductory session will take place at SARAI/CSDS seminar room on Friday, November 17th 11.00-13.00/14.00-16.00.

Second session on November 24th, same time.

http://www.sarai.net

I've been reading the Nomadology book and blog posts lately. it's an interesting concept. I've found myself travelling more in the last few years but I'm not sure that my mode of travel could be classed as nomadic.

eg from Encyclopedia Britannica - searching on nomad / nomadism
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9373574

or nomadism on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadism

currently I'm a cross between Perpetual Traveller, expat or perhaps even a touch technomad. for the moment I have given up the sedentary lifestyle. living in different place whilst on work projects gives you a great opportunity to see how other people live and to realise how little you actually need to be happy and to live a good life yourself. it definitely makes you appreciate the life we lead in Australia.

there's a whole other world out there and some people are taking advantage of it. in doing a couple of quick html hops whilst googling nomadism, I came across microship.com the website of Steven Roberts who left suburbia behind to travel in teched up vehicles such as Winnebiko and BEHEMOTH. Now he's decking out a catamaran to do some more leisurely and comfortable sailing. but wow! what an adventure. his site mentions he's had help from numerous people on places to stay and go. there'd be a few books worth of stories to tell!

Watch the video

a chat with Richie, from Melbourne band / crew WD40, who builds sound toys and instruments for outdoor parties and festivals - for both kids and adults. he discusses his thoughts on the importance of play. midway through some people walk past and one starts playing a piano down the other end of the room so there was a nice chat about instruments and the piano Richie has at home.

click here or on the image to play the quicktime movie

this evening we went to dinner at Azzurro at the Saket PVR. we spent most of the night gazing out the window at the people walking by. it's amazing how the people here can look right past other people as if they don't exist. I probably shouldn't have taken photos/video, but I wanted to remember it and this helps me to remember.

why indeed..

Saket, New Delhi, India

09/09/2006

music is Kal Ho Naa Ho from the KAL HO NAA HO movie soundtrack

on a related note, this is an interesting project by one of the Sarai Independent fellows 2006 - Home Street Home: A Street Child Survival Guide for Delhi

http://ifellows2006.wordpress.com/fellows/anjali-jyoti/

click here or on the image to play the quicktime movie

music is Indian Summer by Big Bud

I went along to the Sarai Independent Fellows 2006 workshops last weekend (26-27/08) @ Sarai, CSDS, New Delhi. I missed the first two days sessions, but here is a slideshow video of some of the saturday & sunday sessions. it was really interesting - both the presentations and the discussions afterwards. some sessions were in Hindi so I couldn't follow as easily. there were a wide range of projects though - art, music, urban issues. hopefully they'll link to some of the full papers on the sarai.net website. it was a great way to get another insight into life and goings on in India and related places.

photos @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/saraiifellows2006

http://ifellows2006.wordpress.com

http://www.sarai.net

PUKAR is an innovative and experimental initiative that aims to contribute to a global debate about urbanization and globalization. It takes Mumbai as its conceptual base and laboratory for cross-disciplinary research projects. PUKAR also organizes seminars, workshops, talks and film screenings in English, Marathi and occasionally other Mumbai languages, and focuses specifically on producing a new space for critical engagement. Its goal is to generate new urban knowledge by encouraging maximum participation of Mumbai's citizens in this process, thus also contributing to the city's dynamism and sustainability. PUKAR's team consists of a group of scholars, social and cultural activists and professionals in the fields of art, journalism, film, architecture, urban planning and social sciences. The group was founded in 2001 by Professor Arjun Appadurai (Provost & Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs, New School University, New York, USA), who serves as the President of its Board of Trustees.

CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) is a group of architects, scholars, technicians and artists who have worked together over the past seven years in Mumbai. Their collective was established in early 2003 with the aim of undertaking research, pedagogy and intervention on urban spaces and contemporary cultural practices in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. CRIT regards this vast urban realm as its laboratory and terrain for articulating a critical urbanism. Our understanding of urbanism is based on the recognition that everyday exchange between disciplines and across sectors is the basic condition of metropolitan environments, and that collective research is essential to transforming urban spaces and civic life.

The Australian Institute of Urban Studies (AIUS) is an Australia-wide independent not-for-profit organisation concerned with all aspects of urban affairs. It offers many opportunities for members and other interested people to participate in the ongoing debate about urban living in Australia.

Urban Ecology Australia is a non-profit organisation promoting people and nature friendly urban settlements. UEA project, Christie Walk, is a medium density housing development located in downtown Adelaide which combines many ecologically sustainable and community enhancing features. It was initiated by UEA as a demonstration project, to promote nature and people friendly urban development by example.

Urban Design Forum Incorporated is a non-profit organisation formed with the following statement of purpose:

* To encourage the better design of our cities and towns and regions
* To provide a forum where ideas and comment about urban design can be expressed

originally posted on Stealth board - New Zealand thread @ http://www.stealthmag.com/board/viewthread.php?tid=3418

ok, these links aren't all strictly hip hop, but some of the galleries do show some graf, and if you're visiting NZ/Auckland, it's worth checking them out.

in the galleries, there's usually an "Artwalk K Road" brochure created by the K Road Business Association - this is where all these links & descriptions come from. (typos & errors below are mine)

K Road = Karangahape Road, I'll use the abbreviation to save more typos

Blacklab invites you to: remember now - a one day exhibition of contemporary souvenirs by Joanna Callaghan. Friday 16 December 11-9pm, Drinks 6-9pm. remember now includes a series of Brisbane postcards, a Michelle Leslie bikini with matching burka and a Falconio trial momento series of coasters and mugs. Joanna Callaghan is an Australian artist based in London. remember now is an exhibition of new work made over the last four weeks during a residency at Brisbane's Raw Space. read more or visit http://www.joannacallaghan.co.uk or http://www.blacklab.com.au for more details