Salon Femmes br@nchées #56 - Cyberfeminists Live/on the Net

It will soon have been 15 years since the Australian artists of VNS Matrix launched their "Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century”, following in the footsteps of the famous Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway. An important concept for so-called third-wave feminism, cyberfeminism is characterised by plurality and by its very nature resists generalisations and singular definitions. Calling for networks as non-hierarchical models of organisation, as spaces of communication for a multitude of voices, it also invites us to appropriate the transgressive power of machines and technologies and celebrate their fusion with biological and political entities. Reminiscent of the Nineties for some, cyberfeminism has also become, for others, a cool way to fully assume one’s feminism at the dawn of the 21st Century…
Following-up on the blog about cyberfeminism in the Americas in .dpi, the Studio’s new electronic review, on Friday we’ll ask ourselves how we fit into this trend. New media artist and new general director of Studio XX, Marie-Christiane Mathieu is at the Digitophagia festival (Brazil – 14-24 October, 2004 - www.midiatatica.org/digitofagia/), an event about tactical media in the digital age. From Museu da Imagem E C Som in Sao Paulo, the Brazilians accompanying Marie-Christiane will join us through the Net to discuss these issues and share their own experiences of feminism in Brazil at a time when – even now – tradition still holds sway. Do you have to be techno, have access to wealth and technological practices, to be a cyberfeminist? At our end of the optical fibre, Valerie d. Walker and Sharon Hackett will facilitate a debate about the possibilities and the limits of cyberfeminism. If you’d like to start feeding your thoughts right away, visit the site of .dpi (dpi.studioxx.org).
Beginning at 9:30PM, the stream will switch to music and sonorities from the Send+Receive Festival in Winnipeg, where a concert will spotlight Peter Cusack (London, England), Anna Friz and Annabelle Chvostek with their Automated Prayer Machine, [ sic ] and the accordionist Raylene Campbell, fresh from her artist residency at Studio XX. Anyone with an internet connection can tune to the show in on XX's website!
_ Digitofagia Festival (Brazil - Rio de Janeiro, Radio Interferencia, Praia Vermelha Campus:
14-17.10.04 + Sao Paulo, Museu da Imagem e do Som: 18-24.10)
http://www.midiatatica.org/digitofagia/
Using the tactical media approach, Digitophagia takes up the idea of cultural digestion by integrating digital networks and media in an interaction with the Brazilian surroundings and the international community, taking a look at how Brazilians negotiate with technology and discover new and interesting practices.
_Cyberfeminism Blog: http://dpi.studioxx.org/?s=digitofagia
In the context of the Digitofagia Festival, some Brazilians women will ask: what IS cyberfeminism, anyway? Studio XX invites you to send your replies, whenever you’d like, to the articles that appear on .dpi’s Digitofagia blog or to submit texts by sending an email to: webmestre@studioxx.org.
See articles by Cornelia Sollfrank, creator in 1997 of the Old Boys Network - first cyberfeminist alliance: http://cyberfeminisme.org/txt/cyberfemcomment.htm
_Valerie d. Walker
Information systems consultant, Valerie D. Walker holds a Bachelor’s degree with a specialisation in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California in Berkeley. Of course, we know her best as an amazing instructor and the co-hostess and producer of XX Files, the radio show that casts a feminine regard on technology - on the waves of CKUT 90.3 FM at 11h30 on Wednesday. Online archives: www.ckut.ca.
_Sharon Hackett
Internet and Literacy Development Agent at the Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition feminine (CDÉACF), Sharon Hackett is involved in reflections and initiatives surrounding the integration of information technologies in community organisations, locally and internationally. President of the World Forum on Community Networking, she is also active in Québec among groups promoting open-source software. Founder of the netFemmes network (http://netfemmes.cdeacf.ca), she also co-ordinated many studies on the information technologies (IT) needs of womens’ groups (www.womenaction.org/women_media/). Studio XX is very proud to count her among the new members of its Board of Directors!
_Send+Receive sound art festival (Winnipeg – 15-23.10.04)
http://www.sendandreceive.org/
_Raylene Campbell
Originally from Alberta, Raylene is an accordionist who works in the area of electroacoustic composition and performance, as well as in the exploration and creation of audio art, notably with the Expanded Instrument System.
http://www.studioxx.org/e/production/residencies/2004/res_campbell.php