Joanne Richardson (RO), Andreea Carnu (RO)
D Media, Indymedia RO, LadyFest RO interventions

Social Media

A presentation of interventions by 3 interconnected Romanian groups working in the intersection between activist art, do it yourself culture and feminism. Videos on nationalism, delocalization, migration, women’s work and precarity by D Media, a digital culture NGO that has produced 15 videos, and organized conferences, tech workshops, exhibitions and an eclectic tech carnival for women. Zines from Ladyfest Romania, a festival organized by a women-only group engaged in projects to raise awareness and confront issues relating to sexism and gender roles in Romania. Projects by FIA (Girls in Action), a spin-off feminist group that formed after the last Ladyfest in 2007. Documentation of Indymedia Romania, an information portal maintained by a diverse group of people interested in promoting open source and do it yourself publishing and in building a larger communication network among leftist activists. Indymedia Romania works according to non-hierarchical, consensus based decision making and differs from most other Indymedias since the core collective that initiated and is maintaining the project are predominantly women.

D Media was founded in 2002 as an NGO in Cluj, Romania for the production and dissemination of digital culture and socially-engaged art. D Media has organized a conference on tactical media (in collaboration with Next 5 Minutes 4 in Amsterdam), hands-on workshops on net radio, digital video, an eclectic tech carnival (training in hardware and open source software for women), as well as screenings, concerts, exhibitions and sound installations in public space. Since 2004 D Media has also produced 15 videos on topics including open source, activism, borders, nationalism, women’s labour and maternity rights. Its most recent project is compiling a comprehensive video archive of transition in postcommunist countries from 1989-2009 (www.transitland.eu).

Indymedia Romania had its first organization meeting in 2003 and is part of the global Indymedia network since 2004. Indymedia Romania is made up of a mixed group of people – techies, media producers, journalists, philosophers, artists, researchers – and represents a variety of interests including social and economic justice, minority rights, feminism, ecology, demilitarization, media freedom, and non-commercial uses of information technologies. The aims of the collective are maintaining an open-publishing information portal, promoting a non-hierarchical mode of organization based on consensus, and helping to build a network between leftist activist groups in Romania.

Ladyfest Romania is a group of women that came together to organize local festivals that are part of the international Ladyfest network – the first festival took place in Timisoara in 2005, the second in Bucharest in 2007. The goals of the festival are to showcase the artistic expression and social involvement of women and to share ideas through music, spoken word, performance, video, exhibitions, presentations, workshops, open discussion, and direct actions. After the 2007 festival, a spin-off feminist group was formed, FIA (Girls in Action), which aims to have on-going activities beyond organizing the festival. One of its first projects is developing a feminist glossary for Wikipedia Romania.

Joanne Richardson was born in Bucharest, grew up in New York, and is currently living between Cluj and Berlin. She completed an MA in philosophy at New York University, and postgraduate studies in critical theory and film at Duke University. Founder of D Media in Romania, an NGO active in the intersection of art, activism and new technologies. Member of Indymedia Romania collective () from 2003-2006. Editor of Subsol, a webzine on art, activism and net culture, and of two books, Anarchitexts: Voices from the Global Digital Resistance (Autonomedia Press, NY, 2003) and Geert Lovink: Cultura Digitala (Idea Press, Cluj, 2004). Author of essays on leftist political theory, social movements, free software, copyleft, tactical media, video activism, experimental film, and the historical avant-gardes. Recent videos include two shorts on nationalism, full length documentaries on delocalization, migration, precarity and activism, and an experimental essay film on postcommunism, history and memory. For more info and links to texts: http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors0/richardsonbio.html

Andreea Carnu was born in Constanta, grew up in Los Angeles and is currently living somewhere in Europe. She has a BA in Modern Languages and Media Studies from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and an MA in Media Design from the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. In the last years her research has focused on social networks, surveillance culture and borders. She is a member of Indymedia Romania collective since 2003, Ladyfest Romania since 2005, and D Media since 2007, and has been involved in other critical political initiatives internationally. For more info and links to projects: http://tulipe.yukidoke.org/v1/projects/