LabforCulture Blog

What can we do for the internet?

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:58:06 GMT

A good question for the 2011 Free Culture Forum: now that internet has done so much for us, what can we do in return?

2011 has seen viral uprising of civil society in many parts of the world, from the Arabic revolutions to the ongoing global movements for political and economic change. Internet and digital networks have been crucial to make all this happen: to let people gather, share knowledge and ideas and to mobilise in an entirely decentralised way.

In Spain, where file-sharing is defined as legal, civil society mobilised fiercely in 2010 to defend a neutral internet. The Manifesto in Defense of Fundamental Rights on the Internet was signed by 150.000 internet users every day, and a number of other online initiatives emerged, allowing citizens to become part of the movement – which they did on a large scale. Eventually, the “Sinde Act”, an amendment which potentially would lead to a number of sites being closed down, was voted down in the House of Representatives. This was a victory for the citizens and the so called #15M movement.

The 2011 Free Culture Forum is about to take place in Barcelona, 27-30 October. Participants will analyse the Spanish example as being the starting point of a R-evolution, and investigate its potential at a global level. What can we do to defend the right to share via internet? What new sustainable models can we set up for the creation of culture? How can we improve the efficient use of internet to achieve direct participation? These and other questions will be discussed, leading to recommendations and tools to potentiate a R-evolution.

The forum is free and open to anyone who is interested in these issues. Find out more about the 2011 FCForum: Networks for a R-evolution here.

Free Culture Forum is supported by ECF/LabforCulture.

Artists respond to climate change – do you?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:45:01 GMT

Last year we investigated how artists respond to climate change. Here is a closer look at a few more projects and networks that we have added to our mapping. They all have in common that you can participate yourself, online of offline.

Make a Forest is a global collaborative art and design project that sets to create a link between nature and culture. The project invites cultural organisations all over the world to work together with artists and designers to grow a virtual forest, tree by tree. Can one artificial tree make a difference locally, and many artificial trees globally?

Make a Forest was launched in March 2011 and is endorsed by the United Nations 2011 International Year of the Forest. Forests are not only the home and the livelihood to millions and billions of people on this globe, they also represent aestethic, spiritual and cultural values, intangible but priceless. Trees represent life itself, and are also a source of inspiration for many artists.

The project has also initiatied the Tree One Minutes: Make a portrait of your favourite tree in a one minute video - the first deadline is 1 October 2011 (final deadline is 1 December 2011). The videos will form a collective video art work, with the first preview at the Dutch Design Week Eindhoven (22-30 October 2011).

La Isla Hundida (The Drowned Island) offers a creative way to engage artists to work with school children, to illustrate the immediate threat of rising sea levels in the Maldives. The project was launched in December 2010 during the UN Climate Change Conference COP16 in Cancun, Mexico.

The idea is simple: you make an island from a newspaper page and then watch it sink in water. The project can be multiplied on local level, anyone who wants to do this – schools, educational institutions, artists, parents – will find inspiration on the website.

350.org is a global network that connects grassroots organisations and individuals from across the world, and mobilises people online to do offline activities. The movement involves not only artists, musicians, photographers and writers, but also athletes, businesses, faith communities and youth. Coming up is the Moving Planet day on 24 September 2011, with events to encourage individuals, communities and governments to move beyond fossil fuels - by foot, bike, skate... Look for an event nearby you, or get ideas for a local event you can still organise with short notice. 24 September is the day!

If you missed our research, read more under Climate change: artists respond.

ECF's Collaboration Grants - open till 1 September

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:45:19 GMT

Cultural organisations wishing to work with others across Europe need to start now with formulating a great project that will inspire others. For all the details on the grant scheme and also to apply online - go here.

Forward this notice to facebook and your networks now!

Euclid Network’s Social Innovation Competition is now open!

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:40:55 GMT

Please disseminate the information and spread the word!

Euclid Network, Project Ahead and the UniCredit Foundation are looking for an innovative idea to tackle one of the six challenges in Naples. They are creating a competition that calls on creative innovators from around the world to solve concrete challenges.

In the minds of people, Naples is internationally known for two things: its garbage problem and the Camorra, a “shadow big society” which, together with the absence of state, has created a stalemate that seems impossible to overcome.

Huge unemployment in the suburbs, high levels of crime, the retreat of state and an absence of corporations in areas where they are most needed, are just a few of Naples’ persisting problems .

The aim of the competition is to prove that cooperation across borders and boundaries based on the real needs of people, their engagement and creativity – or simply: social innovation - can provide new solutions for society solving 6 concrete challenges identified by organisers and local organisations in Naples.

For more go here - www.euclidnetwork.eu

Sign the We are more MANIFESTO NOW!

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 04:39:03 GMT

Last day to post the manifesto as your status before the Commission budget proposal! With more than 5.000 friends on Facebook it shouldn't be a problem to get from 14.300 to 15.000 signatures by Wednesday - act for culture in Europe NOW!

http://www.wearemore.eu/manifesto/

Manifesto of the Europe-wide arts advocacy campaign
we are more

We are many individuals that value and shape contemporary European cultures. We are more than many. We are more than producers and consumers. We are committed to cultural rights, education and active citizenship.

- We believe that the strong tradition of public funding of the arts across Europe makes a difference to the diversity, accessibility and quality of the arts available to us all.

The arts, culture and the humanities engage and inspire us, and stimulate us to challenge the world we live in. Investing in the arts from kindergarten to old age builds societies that are creative, innovative, democratic and diverse.

Let us re-imagine long-term public investment that contributes to human, social and environmental progress.

National governments and EU policymakers are currently taking decisions on the next EU budget that will influence the next ten years of support to cultural activities that benefit everyone who lives in Europe.

NOW IS THE TIME to make your voice heard – **SIGN the we are more Manifesto!**

Read the manifesto in another language (Bulgarian, Croatian, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish + more languages coming soon!).

The we are more campaign is developed by Culture Action Europe in partnership with the European Cultural Foundation.

Follow We are more on Facebook!

Sustainable models of creativity in the digital era

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:01:25 GMT

Each year, the FCForum brings together key organisation and active voices in the sphere of free/libre culture. It responds to the need for an international arena in which to put together and coordinate a global framework for action, and to the need to defend and expand the sphere in which human creativity and knowledge can prosper freely and sustainably.

The Free/Libre Culture Forum released the "How-to" guide to new models of sustainability in the digital era, in an attempt to re-think the economic structures that have been producing, financing and funding culture until now.

The document is a collective output of the FCForum 2010 event, who included a large range of participants and organisations including Creative Commons, Wikimedia Germany, Free Knowledge Foundation, La Quadrature du Net, Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, and many others.

Reports of Amsterdam Culture Mondo Roundtable 2010

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:09:32 GMT

Culturemondo's 6th international roundtable took place in September 2010 in Amsterdam and was held in conjuction with PICNIC, LabforCulture and Virtueel Platform.

Blogger and Culturemondo member Michelle Kasprzak produced a report of the Culturemondo Rountable meeting, covering the group panel discussion on "Connecting Policy and Practice" as well as the three following workshops on "Crowdsourcing problems":

If National Geographic ran a contemporary art gallery, they would... (led by John Newbigin)
If The Guardian ran a museum or gallery, they would... (led by Lydia Howland)
If IKEA ran a museum, they would... (led by Seb Chan)

Click to read the report

You can also read the separate report Float or Dive? by ArijJan Verboon and Catherine Bunting, or enjoy the slideshow put together by Michael Edson, from the Smithsonian Institution:

Young Researchers Forum: Your opinion and ideas count!

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:36:16 GMT

We would like to invite you to participate in a short and focused online survey on users’ satisfaction about the content, usability and actuality of the Young Cultural Policy Researchers Forum (YCPRF) , as well as ideas for further improvement.

This Forum aims to facilitate young cultural policy researchers to meet online, to share knowledge, to get to know each other, to collaborate on joined initiatives, and to stay informed. It was launched in March 2010. This community group is part of a larger collaborative project between European Cultural Foundation, LabforCulture, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and ENCATC.

It should take you about 10 minutes to complete the 10 focused questions. All answers and data will be summarized and kept anonymous.

If you wish to contribute, please click here.
The deadline to complete the questionnaire is January 28, 2011.

Your input is very valuable and important to us! If you have any queries about the questionnaire please do not hesitate to contact Prof.Dr. Lidia Varbanova who moderates the Forum.

Thank you very much for your time in participating in our survey. We would be pleased to hear your opinion and suggestions for further improvements.

Our goal is to make this forum a lively and useful collaborative platform for young researchers devoted to cultural policy and related issues.

Many thanks in advance!

- The LabforCulture team

ECF Routes public programme: Šejla Kamerić and Kutluğ Ataman in focus

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:58:39 GMT

Europe consists of a dynamic group of countries and neighbours, sometimes in a state of flux, and regions and cities that are mutually linked and unique. Within this world, the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) encourages cultural diversity and exchange, for example by organising the annual ECF Routes Princess Margriet Award. On 8 February, this award will be presented in Brussels to two artists who have made a valuable contribution to the cultural diversity of Europe: Šejla Kamerić and Kutluğ Ataman. After the award ceremony they will present their work during Routes public programme on February 8 in Brussels and on 10 and 11 February in Rotterdam. And you are invited.

Running over three days the programme features the artists in conversation with Dirk Snauwaert (Artistic Director, WIELS), Iara Boubnova (Director, Institute of Contemporary Arts Sofia) and Mirjam Westen (Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem) with screenings of Šejla Kamerić’s film "Glück" (2009) and Kutluğ Ataman's "Journey to the Moon" (2009).

The programme is conducted in English and entry is free, but registration is required. This is an initiative of ECF in partnership with Art Rotterdam, deBuren, Zapp Magazine and KVS.

Routes public programme in Brussels with Šejla Kamerić and Kutluğ Ataman - Wednesday 9 February 2011 at the Royal Flemish Theatre, 19:00-22:00

An evening in conversation with Šejla Kamerić and Kutluğ Ataman and screening of their films moderated by Dirk Snauwaert, Artistic Director of WIELS.
To register: info@deburen.eu and for more info go to deburen.

Routes public programme in Rotterdam with Kutluğ Ataman - Thursday 10 February 2011 from 14:00 – 16:00

Kutluğ Ataman in conversation with Iara Boubnova, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Sofia at the LantarenVenster.

Routes public programme in Rotterdam with Šejla Kamerić - Friday 11 February 2011 from 17:30 – 19:00.

Šejla Kamerić in conversation with Mirjam Westen, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem at the HPM Centre, Westzeedijk 114, Rotterdam.

Entry is free of charge, please register at: vip@artrotterdam.com and info at Art Rotterdam. Come and join.

Belarus' electoral nightmare

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:23:29 GMT

Pavol Demes traveled to Belarus as an independent election observer for the 19 Dec 2010 elections. This is what he saw (courtesy of the German Marshall Fund):

Metropolis: a 21st century window on the world

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:32:14 GMT

New video journalists/ tv producers to join the Metropolis network.

Metropolis is an innovative TV show and website that shows remarkable and unexpected stories from around the world. The stories are produced by local video journalists. For our upcoming series of 18 episodes we are looking for new professional video journalists to join our project.

Metropolis employs a correspondent network of more than 70 video journalists and TV producers from across six continents. As a Metropolis correspondent you explore your local surroundings to capture remarkable stories in everyday life. Weekly global topics are the starting point: what is it like to be an outcast, how are children raised in your culture, how do people deal with a broken heart, what are local dangers and how do people deal with them? Visit this page to find out about upcoming themes: http://www.metropolistv.nl/en/content/join

Metropolis was initiated by VPRO and Dutch NGO Hivos. VPRO is an independent and non-political public broadcast organization in The Netherlands. The show is aired on prime time in The Netherlands, Belgium and Nicaragua and has won several media awards in the past 3 years.

What is offered

A great opportunity to show the world stories from your country to a global audience
The possibility to produce reports on a regular basis
Work that can be combined with other documentaries/projects
Appropriate remuneration for each contribution

What is required

Great eye for unexpected and remarkable characters and stories
The ability to make a professional and personal 5-minute report
Experience in making TV reports and/or documentaries
A lot of enthusiasm to join a unique global collective of video journalists!

How to learn more

Would you like to learn more? Don't hesitate to contact us! Please contact editor Ms. Iris van der Spoel: i.vander.spoel@vpro.nl

On our website you can find all reports from around the world, more information on the project and of course all episodes: www.metropolistv.nl/en

Open letter to Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:30:35 GMT

Dear Ms Catherine Ashton,

I am writing to you in your capacity as the European Union's High Representative for External Relations, to appeal to you to put all possible pressure on President Lukashenka to immediately release the hundreds of prisoners arrested after the election on Sunday 19 December.

Among those arrested were the founders of the Belarus Free Theatre with whom the European Cultural Foundation has had a long relationship. They are committed to Europe and the fundamental values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law. They have been a driving force for change in Belarus. These community leaders and their fellow protesters need all of our support.

The values and beliefs that we hold dear are threatened at our doorstep and those with whom we work closely to ensure an open, free and democratic future have been violently attacked. Many people across Europe support them, and many will address their respective national media, politicians, and EU authorities. In this message we must stand firm and united.

This is certainly a personal plea on my behalf but also as Director of the European Cultural Foundation and as a voice from our network of cultural organisations across Europe all of whom are deeply concerned about the recent events in Belarus.

Yours sincerely,
Katherine Watson
Director of the European Cultural Foundation

Climate change - artists respond!

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:54:28 GMT

Artists have a particular role in influencing society: they are informal agents of change - lobbying and advocating for societal issues.
So... how do they respond to climate change?

In the advent of the largest marine oil spill ever in history we wanted to find out more and wondered whether culture can influence sustainability – and how? Through interviews, mapping and identifying key questions in the culture and climate debate – we bring you the our latest content piece: Climate change: artists respond.

The interviews represent a diverse group: from the artist, David Buckland; the curator, Michaela Crimmin; the researcher Sacha Kagan, and the diplomat, Helena Drnovšek-Zorko - who each give their personal perspective – considering impact, trailblazers in the field and shedding new light on emerging ideas.

Additionally this research in focus maps the cultural scene for blogs, projects, organisations and networks on culture and climate change. It’s a useful resource of local work aspiring to global ambitions, international art networks connecting to science in its artistic productions and more. You can also submit your own content.

Read on to learn more!

LabforCulture would like to thank Lidia Varbanova, who coordinated this Research in Focus, the interviewees and the editorial team.

Prof. Lluis Bonet - CPRA Jury President: Why this choice?

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:55:36 GMT

Lluis Bonet gives an insight on the selection criteria applied by the CPRA International Jury for selecting the best research proposal. He explains the reasons why the 2010 CPR Award was attributed to Claire Bullen (UK).

In their decision the seven Jury members assess the complexity of:

Topic

Methodology

Relevance

Capacity for carrying out a complete research within one year and other qualities.

Open Public Sector Information: Free/Libre Culture Forum 2010

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:03:34 GMT

The Free/Libre Culture Forum started with a day dedicated to the initiatives, challenges and opportunities related to Open Public Sector Information (PSI).

What is Public Sector Information?

PSI stands for data held, collected or managed by the public administration. It can take several forms: digital maps, meteorological, legal, financial, economic or social data. PSI opens up incredible opportunities (but also challenges) in re-using and creating mashups of public raw data - a good example is the commuting time-housing prices map (see this example in London).

"Re-use of public sector information means using it in new ways by adding value to it, combining information from different sources, making mash-ups and new applications, both for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Examples include real time traffic information and bus timetables together with maps downloaded to smart phones." (see the European Commission website for more information). The European Union finally adopted the "PSI directive" in 2003.

PSI strongly relates to the issues of:

access: can I access the data?
accessibility: is the data accessible in a way that makes it usable?
copy: can I duplicate and reuse the data for my own purposes?
fair conditions: can everyone access and reuse the data under the same conditions?

Daniel Dietrich posed 3 rules public data should comply to:

if it can't be spidered or indexed, it does not exist
if it's not available in raw machine format, nobody can engage with the data
if the data cannot be reused, there is no empowerment of users.

The challenges of "Cultural PSI"

Traditional cultural institutions also face the same information issues. This is especially true for museums, whose role is indeed to spread information and knowledge to their audience - an area where digitization of their collections can bring several opportunities. However, the PSI does not apply to the "educational, scientific, broadcasting and cultural sectors"…
This situation brings several questions that need to be addressed:

who is the author of the work - and who detains the rights on the object? This is very important for commissioned work.
how to deal with orphan works?

And, as panelist Raquel Xalabarder concluded: should the public sector create their own licensing model?

What are the main actors in PSI policy work?

A lot of information can be found through the EVPSI (Extracting Value from PSI) and LAPSI (Legal Aspects of PSI) websites.

http://www.evpsi.org/
http://www.lapsi-project.eu/

Interview with Claire Bullen - CPRA 2010 WINNER

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 08:10:11 GMT

Claire Bullen was selected among 6 finalists for the Cultural Policy Research Award in 2010. Her research topic is: "European Capitals of Culture and everyday cultural diversity: Comparing social relations and cultural policies in Liverpool and Marseille". It will be carried out for one year.

Claire Bullen's message to the young researchers who would apply for the CPRA is:

"Go for it! If you think you've got a project with a European dimension and focusing on cultural policy [...] it worth doing it."

Interview with Isabelle Brianso (FR) - CPRA 2010 Finalist

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:39:29 GMT

"The Award competition is a place to share ideas and points of view."

Isabelle Brianso

Isabelle Brianso works at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ) in France. Her paper "The Complexity of Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue Applied to Developing Countries' World Heritage sites" was selected among the six CPRA finalists.

Interview with Mariangela Lavanga (IT) - CPRA 2010 Finalist

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:35:49 GMT

"A unique opportunity for a young researcher to make an important contribution."

Mariangela Lavanga's research focuses on "Fostering creativity and innovation in visual art and fashion in London and Milan in the context of globalisation – policies and instruments at local, national and European levels".

"You can have big impact with small investments": Charles Leadbeater - Culturemondo/PICNIC

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 07:37:45 GMT

Charles Leadbeater is the well-known author of the books We-think and Cloud culture - and he was invited to talk in the Culturemondo session Cloud culture and new business models. Interviewed at the end of session, he explains how cloud culture can help achieving a high impact with a small investment, reaching "the people you need to reach" - and actively engaging with them!

Supported by British Council 'Counterpoint'

The Culturemondo@PICNIC sessions were organised by Virtueel Platform and LabforCulture. Thanks to Frank Thinnes (plurio.net) for giving interviews.

"The time of models is over": Soenke Zehle at Culturemondo/PICNIC '10

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:26:36 GMT

Soenke Zehle is Director of the XMLab in Germany, and was a speaker in the PICNIC session Cloud culture and new business models. In this interview, Soenke explains how technological innovations gradually led to the cloud culture - which has a much larger impact on ourselves than just technicalities. He also taps into the regulatory framework around copyright and licensing models - as well as the energy efficiency of the cloud infrastructures.