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

Wed Jan 7 13:25:33 PST 2004

Hello.

I'm a post graduate media student form Bergen, Norway. I am here in India to do 
a field study om Indymedia's coverage of the WSF.

I have been trying for some time now to get in touch with those of you who are 
co-ordinating the preparations with out getting any replies. I have also been 
on the discussion list for the preperation. From what I see from the lates e-
mails you are planning to have your office at the youth camp. Is that right, 
and where in the camp can I find it?
I'm coming to Mumbai on the 15th. Can I meet some of you (Harsh Kapoor and 
Patrick Cadorette for example) at your office at 11 am? Then I can present my 
project, and we can discuss how this can be done. 

I hope to hear for you soon.

Best wishes,

Egil G. Skogseth

University of Bergen, Norway.

Quoting Harsh Kapoor <aiindex at mnet.fr>:

> Hi :
> speaking as an Imc India volunteer, i would say we all represent 
> pretty diverse political strands within the progressive community and 
> are open to all form of collaboration with the activists of media 
> initiative at the IYC.  We have very limited resources, so lets pool 
> in our energies as much as possible.
> Yeah you can buy sim cards for a local number in India, but your 
> phones have to be gsm compatible ( cdma phones wont work)
> Harsh
> At 1:34 AM -0500 4/1/04, evan wrote:
> >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
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Imc-india mailing list
> >Imc-india at lists.indymedia.org
> >http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-india
> 
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