thoughtsandtalks

From 27th to 29th March 2009 the Course “Grandmother’s University” was held at the Navdanya Vidya Peeth campus in Derhadun. About 30 female farmer’s from Uttaranchal, Uttrakand and Maharashtra and 20 western students gathered together to celebrate woman’s work and knowledge through attending interactive lectures.

Dr. Vandana Shiva conducted a session on Women and Agriculture in which she stated that throughout history keeping seeds has been mostly women’s business.
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Pixelache 09 features a seminar (in Finnish) and a series of presentations and discussions (in English) related to theme Art, Science & Ecology.
This theme aims to bring together local and international environmental scientists and artists. The programme will feature presentations about recent art/science collaborations and discussions about working methods and shared interests.
We will also explore what could be done with the real-time energy consumption data recently released by Helsingin Energia (see below) together with the participants of Digital Craftsmanship and Audiovisual Hacking themes.

info: seminar Art, Science & Ecology

report by regine debatty - we make money not art : how to save the world in 10 days!

Setting up an exhibition about today’s ecological and economical crisis is a delicate exercise: it seems that everybody has done one such exhibition before you and invited the same artists as you. This year’s edition of The Game Is Up! , a festival organized by one of my favourite art centers, the Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium, was brazenly titled How To Save the World in 10 Days.

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With the urban garden project we want to blend the natural and the digital world in one and the same eco-system. Can natural evolution be generated, controlled, enhanced or imagined in artworks? Is our environment programmable? How does the fusion of natural and artificial matter produce new organisms, new environments, new natures? How does technology animate nature and space, and how do users and programs animate matter?

workshop — part1 : the natural setting/ designing the urban garden
friday, march 6 - 10 am @ okno
This is a Fo.am/OKNO collaboration!

Part I: the natural setting (the urban garden, permaculture)
Can we talk about ‘permaculture’, as an intrinsic part of this media-ecological system? What is Permaculture? Permaculture is about designing human environments that have the stability, diversity and resilience of natural ecosystems. Permaculture integrates renewable energy systems, energy efficiency, food/gardening systems, natural building, rainwater harvesting, urban planning along with the economic, political and social policies that make sustainable living possible and practical.
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Signals from the South’ is an annual showcase of projects from ‘the South’ (South America, Africa, Asia). This year’s exhibition features work by Venzha Christ / Yogyakarta New Media Art Laboratory (Indonesia), Geraldine Juaréz (Mexico), Annemie Maes (Belgium), Vanessa Gocksch & Juan Carlos Pellegrino (Colombia).

The exhibition is organised by Pixelache festival in collaboration with MUU Gallery.
Pixelache Helsinki (2-5 April) is a festival of electronic art and subcultures, organised since 2002.

signals from the south
pixelache.2009
MUU Gallery 13.3. - 5.4.2009 — Lönnrotinkatu 33, 00180 Helsinki

information on the projects and artists: (more…)

Global warming, the financial crisis, famine, drought and overpopulation… The end is near, but don’t despair: artists and experts from different disciplines will launch proposals to save the world, put the threat in perspective or blow up the whole thing.
Well-aimed happenings, bold statements, bizarre turns, sophisticated utopias and biodegradable references.

Vooruit/Ghent - 4/14 march 2009

So-on – Politics of change
Annemie Maes has made a documentary wall with pictures, videos, and interviews she gathered during her field research at Barefoot College. In this Indian community, illiterate grown-up women are technically trained so they can personally provide their village with sustainable energy with the help of solar panels. Their knowledge could inspire the West to find solutions for current climate and environmental issues.
Annemie Maes is a member of the So-on collective, consisting of artists, filmmakers, activists and researchers. They want to confront the public with different views and try to stimulate the public debate on economic, political and cultural sustainability.