[Imc-india] Re: IMC in Mumbai / IYC

[patcad]

Hello Evan and everyone else,
first I just want to clarify that I was in Poa last January, mainly 
operating from the coms center at IYC, but also dropping by the IMC space 
from time to time. 

I'm also well aware of the politics involved with the WSF/IYC. I have heard 
a great deal about the skirmishes between IMC and IYC in 2002. I am not sure
how it would be constructive to hold grudges and cling to past tensions. 

As you surely know, it is the first year that IYC is so closely tied to WSF.
So closely in fact that it is plainly a part of it.
I'm not saying they weren't close before, but this year is special...
This situation is very interesting and brings a whole new set of questions 
and challenges. 

For instance, the whole selfmanagement part of IYC has been somewhat 
evacuated. Of course there are a lot of volunteers running around, but one 
gets the feeling that the horizontality has been somewhat shifted. 

This needs to be adressed in a very direct manner, in my opinion. And there 
is no better way to adress this than by participating directly and return to 
the truely grassroots organising from within. 

This is why I strongly encourage IMCists and PGA affiliated activists to 
consider staying at IYC while in Mumbai. Besides, accomodation is a 
nightmare now. 

I should be said also that the IYC in Mumbai is very different from what we 
grew accustomed to in PoA. 

It is set up on the playing grounds of the Don Bosco High School, in 
Matunga, Mumbai centre. 

There will be accomodation for some 5 to 6 000 people. But not in individual 
tents. Things are being set up for people to sleep in communal tents (350 
tents accomodating 15 people each). SO DON'T bring your camping gear for 
nothing if you plan to stay at IYC. 

As for the media rooms, they are classrooms, therefore they are closed and 
can be locked.
To my knowledge ther is no talk of having a huge stereo system blaring. 
Neither is it planned to have round the clock partys here. 

You have to understand that India is very very different from Brasil, and 
that the IYC 2004 is somewhat different from previous editions in several 
aspects. 

You can expect a little less head banging, that's for sure. One gets the 
feeling that serious talks and cultural happenings will have great 
importance. It will also be a great opportunity to build ALLIANCE IN ACTION. 

Also for the epensive stuff, there will be spaces to leave it and lock it 
away. 

Waht I understood is that IYC is ready to accomodate Rooms, Internet 
conectivity. I will see what that can do about the renting of computers. As 
I haven't had a reply from Alex in Boston, I assume that this is to be 
forgot. If not please reply soon. 

I will see what can be provide by IYC in terms of computer rentals. 
Everything else is provided, solid. 

LEt's keep in touch. 

PAtCad 

PS I've met with the MR2004 organisers and have visited one of their 
activist camps. They're very lively proactive people, but they uphold a 
rather dogmatic maoist rhetoric. 

Anyhow i encourage IMCists to enquire into their activities... 

 

 

 

 

 

van writes: 

> Hello Patrick 
> 
> My name is Evan, with my partner Gaba we work with indymedia in Uruguay 
> and generally as a techies. I've been trying to work with Harsh and 
> Vickram from India Indymedia. Vickram lives in Mumbai and has working on 
> helping coordinate between indymedia and the WSF. 
> 
> On Friday, Jan 2, 2004, at 04:27 US/Eastern, patcad wrote: 
> 
>> Greetings,
>> This is Patrick from Quebec.indymedia.
>> I'm in Mumbai now trying to coordinate a a indy media room with the media 
>> and communications comittee of the YOC/IYC.
> 
> That's great. Everything seems to need a bit more coordination and there 
> seems to be a number of parallel projects. 
> 
> 
>> We have very little information from the network at this moment.
> 
> Indymedia in India is not as established as it is in Brazil, and combined 
> with the different political has changed the organizing and the 
> relationship to the World Social Forum. I'm cc'ing the indymedia india 
> mailinglist to try and bring more people in to the loop. 
> 
> Vickram, Harsh, and some of us who have been working towards indymedia 
> projects at the WSF have been talking to the Media and Communications 
> folks at the WSF. The general plan which is being implemented is to setup 
> a small media center with half a dozen computers and a streaming web radio 
> station. We have not talked about setting up a larger indymedia center at 
> the Youth Camp. We heard a rumor that somebody was working on something 
> like that, but nobody gave us an email or any way to get a hold of these 
> people. 
> 
> Perhaps your email is the opening we need to get communication flowing 
> better. 
> 
>> We need to know:
>> : is everyone ok with having the IMCenter within the IYC.
> 
> I'm speaking for my self on this, but this is my take on the relationship 
> between indymedia and the WSF 2004 in Mumbai. During the second WSF in 
> Brazil indymedia had a media lab setup at the official WSF youth camp  in 
> a space which was also used a number of community radio stations and a 
> very loud DJ. The space was dubbed the 'World Socializing Forum' as it was 
> loud, nobody went to sleep 'til the crack of dawn, and the space was very 
> open. It had a feeling of a brazilian rainbow gathering with a lot of hard 
> left radical groups thrown in the middle of the camp.  The music was so 
> loud it was difficult to have a conversation. A number of laptops were 
> stolen from the indymedia space and it was flooded when it rained heavily. 
> 
> My primary concerns about an effective media working space at the youth 
> camp are the logistical ones mentioned above. Of course, it goes without 
> saying that Indians and Brazilians have very different cultures. A camp 
> organized by Indians will be very different. Perhaps the media tent will 
> physically be setup differently. I think that security against theft could 
> be even more important in Mumbai. 
> 
>>  Are there any reasons not to associate IMC with IYC? If there are 
>> political differents, these should be expressed so that every one 
>> involved know about them. Namely, is there talk of IMC joining with 
>> Mumbai Resistance 2004. If so, it needs to be said that a great many 
>> people from outside of India are going to participate in IYC...
> 
> In Brazil, Indymedia has it's core networks and support within the 
> anarchist, punk movements and among university students. The World Social 
> Forum has it's power within very institutionalized leftist unions and the 
> Workers Party (PT) which is a popular front type coalition of many leftist 
> parties and tendencies. The one movement which both indymedia and the WSF 
> organizers both support is that of MST, the rural landless worker's 
> movement, which itself is somewhat excluded from the WSF. 
> 
> The primary critiques of the WSF and PT are of their anti-democratic 
> internal structure, institutionalization, and their reformist and statist 
> politics. Some parts of the Brazilian left has always boycotted the WSF, 
> while indymedia and activists connected to PGA (People's Global Action) 
> have focused on setting up parallel forums. 
> 
> Mumbai Resistance 2004 is another beast all together. They have copied and 
> reposted articles from indymedia activists in brazil and others against 
> the WSF, but they do not share the radically democratic or autonomist 
> political perspective. As far as I can tell there is little political 
> common ground between Indymedia and MR2004 except that both have people 
> with a critique of the WSF as being reformist and not representing their 
> radical politics. 
> 
> Because there is not the same political environment between the WSF 
> organizers and Indymedia in India i expect that people are more willing to 
> cooperate and collaborate on projects than when the WSF is held in Brazil. 
> 
> There will be a meeting of PGA activists outside the WSF and i expect many 
> indymedia activists will attend and participate. 
> 
>> : how many IMCists are coming to Mumbai; from which collective; when; so 
>> that we can figure out how many journalists/mediactivists need acces to 
>> the IYC media facilities;
> 
> We do not know how many people will be attending from indymedia centers. 
> We know at least a dozen people. During the WSF in Brazil there were 
> around 200 people working on the indymedia project, not counting people 
> who's primary activity was with other groups and did not use the media 
> center. We had 30 computers for the IMC and they were all almost always 
> occupied. 
> 
> Many activists came overland from brazil, uruguay, argentina, bolivia, and 
> as far away as colombia by land. We won't be having nearly as many south 
> asians as indymedia does not have the same network in south asia as we do 
> in south america. On the other hand there might be more europeans. 
> 
> The reality is that it's all guesswork. 
> 
>> : do you plan to stay at the IYC?
> 
> Some people will be, many will not. If you have video cameras, computers, 
> and other expensive equipment it is dangerous to stay in the camp. 
> 
>> : if you plan on bringing material, what are you bringing with you?
> 
> We will be brining between 2 and 4 computers which people in the Boston 
> IMC are helping recycle. They are pentium III's with 128 megs of ram and 6 
> gig hard drives. They won't have monitors. The idea is to leave them with 
> indymedia or other social movement groups would could make good use of the 
> computers. We will also be bringing a 8 port 10/100 hub and some ethernet 
> cable. 
> 
> I expect that many indymedia activists coming from the first world will be 
> bringing their own laptops, digital cameras, video cameras, minidisc 
> recorders. Those things are not generally shared. 
> 
> Vickram will be supplying a mixing board and mic's and 3 minidisc 
> recorders to use with the web radio station. The WSF Media and Comms 
> Committee has asked us to stream the main introduction ceremony and some 
> of the bigger talks in exchange for their supplying the space, a few 
> computers to use, and a net connection. 
> 
>> : is mumbai.indymedia going along with this? How can we reach each other?
> 
> You should be emailing the following mailinglists, imc-india at indymedia.org 
> and imc-wsf at indymedia.org. Indymedia Mumbai is not a functioning 
> organization. Vickram is the only indymedia person from Mumbai. 
> 
>> What has been discussed so far:
>> : there is a large room on the IYC venue dedicated to a indymedia center, 
>> possibly two rooms.
> 
> First off, i personally like the idea of having an indymedia center at the 
> IYC. It will help us introduce the idea of participatory media making to 
> many activists in a concrete hands on way.  Thank you very much for 
> organizing and pushing forward with this space. 
> 
> It is much better if the space has doors which can be shut and locked, a 
> space which can be somewhat controlled so we don't have all the equipment 
> stolen. In Brazil we had an open air space with a roof and it did not work 
> out well. If there is a loud music system, please can the indymedia center 
> be far away from the large speakers. 
> 
>> : priority will be given to Indy media; some basic facilities are going 
>> to be provided to corporate media.
> 
> We will need to discuss the relationship between indymedia and the WSF 
> media resources made available to the corporate media. At the same time, 
> many indymedia activists will have official WSF press credentials. 
> 
>> : techies are going to arrange for enough connecting facilitie for a 
>> large number of computers, including a hub for laptops.
> 
> Cool. 
> 
>> : Alex from boston.indymedia has been in touch with Giuseppe from the IYC 
>> and has projected the possibility of renting about 20 computers with a 
>> few scanners and peripheral material. Can this be confirmed?
> 
> I have a question. Are you, the IYC, and the WSF offering to supply the 
> space, the space and internet connection, the computers, tables.....? 
> 
> My question is this. What are we trying have to supply from the 
> 'indymedia' end of things? 
> 
> My understanding is that a computer in Mumbai can be rented for a month 
> for about $55 USD. 
> 
>> Personnaly, I am shooting a documentary film on the IYC and the various 
>> network stemming from it. I strongly believe that IMC should take 
>> seriously this opportunity to work with the IYC and its thousands of 
>> participants from all over the world. This is going to be one 
>> extroardinary event!
>> There is a great deal of things to be discussed around and about WSF and 
>> IYC. But let us not forget about the important thing, which is getting 
>> together, learning, working and building together.
>> I hope to hear from you very soon and hopefully see you in the coming 
>> weeks.
> 
> I too look forward to working with you in Mumbai. Gabriela and I will be 
> arriving on the 14th. Max from indymedia Michigan will be there on the 
> 7th. 
> 
> Does anybody know if you can rent cell phones or buy gms sim's to get a 
> local number in Mumbai? 
> 
> in solidarity,
> evan 
> 
 


PAtCAd
CMAQ - Montréal