T.A.Z
\nNext 5 Minutes 4
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\nTemporary\/Tactical Autonomous Zone<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153History says the revolution attains \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpermanence\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, or at least duration, while the uprising is \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctemporary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. In this sense an uprising is like a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpeak experience\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as opposed to the standard of ordinary consciousness and experience. Like festivals, uprisings cannot happen every day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c otherwise they would not be \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcnonordinary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. [\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6] The Shaman returns \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stay up on the roof forever \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but things have changed, shifts and integrations have occurred \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a difference is made\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Hakim Bey )<\/p>\n
The concept of a TAZ is of course not new, it has been around for some years now. But Hakim Bey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s description (not definition) of a Temporary Autonomous Zone fits perfectly for this years Next 5 Minutes. The Revolution is permanent, but this event definitely can be seen as an Uprising. As the programme leaflet tells us: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Defining for Tactical Media is not the medium itself, but the attitude towards media.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Next 5 Minutes tackled issues on the politics of Tactical Media, that is, it researched, critiqued and showed peoples attitudes towards these kind of media. <\/p>\n
It would be an understatement to say that the programme offered a variety of events. Maybe Joke Turpijns description of a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTactical Jungle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is more appropriate, but then again, a jungle refers to the chaotic, the unknown and unclear. Maybe we have to refer to this kind of eclectic gathering of ideas, people, thoughts and genres with the concept of a Contact Zone which Ronald Soetaert and Andre Mottart used for their latest Multiliteracies Conference . For this concept they where inspired by M.L. Pratt who states that in the Contact Zone: <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other, often in the context of highly assymetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery and their aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world today.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Pratt in Soetaert&Mottart 2003)<\/p>\n
This is not to say that N5M4 was characterised by asymmetrical power relations, but that different people, genres and ideas came to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmeet, clash and grapple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 with each other in order to critique these kind of asymmetrical power relations.<\/p>\n
But even a Contact Zone needs a strategic guide. This was the purpose of Fridays first panel at the Balie, a strategic guide to the festival. It was made clear that the days where mainly for debates and film screenings, the Hybrid Media Studio and the Media Library where continuous and nights where for performance and dancing (Latin American political Hip Hop, Sabotage Performance Night, Fem Snd\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6). These \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccollaborative\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 events like the dance nights reminded me of Rik Pinxten\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s critique of the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcrational relationship\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Anthropologist Rik Pinxten critiques the rational Humanist model in which the civilian was told to address the world from the head and definitely not from the hearth. He refers to Keil who steps away from this model and introduces \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgroovologie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122: The Human is above all emotional and dance is a perfect way to manifest this. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not just celebrating dance but I like Pinxtens idea that dancing (and making music together) creates totally different relations than those based on the ratio and it seemed to me that N5M4 made these other forms of relations, of coming together of different people, possible.<\/p>\n
Out of the four main themes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Reappearing of the Public, The Tactics of Appropriation and The Tactical and The Technical \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Deep Local drew my attention the most. In this strand the ambiguity of connecting essentially trans-local media cultures with local contexts was explored (the contact zone?). In New Landscapes for New Media three examples where shown of what new media projects can do within small local communities and how to make them work properly. Carl Bi\u00c3\u00b6smark, a media artist and filmmaker from Latvia, presented the culture and information centre k@2 which was the outcome of a film project on the inhabitants of Karostra. People from Sarai presented Cybermohalla, an interactive installation based on creative content from inhabitants of a non-programmed neighbourhood environment. The Nairobits project helped children in Kenia to set up small internet caf\u00c3\u00a9s and organised internet courses to teach the children in the townships the fundaments of Digital Media. The focus on these local projects is important to me, because as Erik Kluitenberg mentioned in the introduction of this panel: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIt is important to make the distinction between global and local, to customise to the needs of the local environment and culture.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/p>\n
A last point I want to mention are the Open Spaces. Within the Temporary Autonomous Zone of the festival, Tactical Autonomous Zones where created. It was an element introduced in the third edition of N5M. It refers to unprogrammed but fully equipped presentation spaces where participants can sign themselves up for a presentation. These TAZ\u00e2\u20ac\u2122es became spaces for contestation and difference. <\/p>\n
This report on N5M4 is of course not complete. For a complete overview I can refer to the 142 pages long reader which is available on line. I only wanted to present some general impressions about the festival and focus on those moments I thought where the most interesting. <\/p>\n
Kris Rutten<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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