thoughtsandtalks

Screenings at HUMlab, the Conference room
Annemie Maes and Goedele Verleysen

Starting with the screening of the movie ‘MAHILA’ (about the women solar engineers of Barefoot College India) followed by the screening of the film of Goedele Verleysen (on the role of the women in the political situation in Bolivia). A more detailed presentation on the projects will follow the screenings.

This will be followed by a more detailed presentation on the projects, and a discussion starting from a list of questions. These questions will be modified collectively, during the workshop. New list will serve as a starting point to do audio interviews with the participants, and will be added to a collective (open source) audio database.

May 1st, Labour Day, my computer and me made this short experimental movie: ‘pw:betelgeuse, portrait of a young moroccan woman at okno’.
Big HardDisk didn’t like the footage too much, and I had to call Little HardDisk for help to bring it to a displayable result.

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I tried to apply a respectfull approach towards the portraying of people in Islamic culture, and at the same time take the digital culture of Okno into account.
Big HD made the selection of the images and gave them their specific rythm and rendering, little HD and myself gave a little help to finalise the experiment.

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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A free newspaper gives background information on the Politics of Change-project (PoC).
An artistic research project driven by grassroots activism, eco-technology and networks of women to build integrated and sustainable relationships between people, their environment and technology.
How did we start, why and where? What is the relation between partners in this north/south/east/west project?
The magazine is printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks, and all collaborators are listed on the backside.

If you don’t manage to come by at one of the public presentations, you can download the magazine in pdf version - here.

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.

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