> From: Technologies To The People <tttp@irational.org>
> Date: Wed Oct 29, 2003 10:39:51 AM US/Eastern
> To: rachel@rhizome.org
> Subject: Against e-valencia.org closing
>
> Against e-valencia.org closing
> (adhesions: http://www.e-valencia.org/)
>
> The e-valencia.org website is an artistic project that Daniel G.
> Andujar presented on 30th November as part of his one-man show, The
> Power of Security. It was conceived as a cultural news magazine and
> file for the Valencia area, hosted by the Universidad de Alicante-MUA
> Museum server. Easy access was its key characteristic, meaning that
> anyone should be able to communicate their opinions in public, without
> intermediaries, creating a space for reason and critique where
> ordinary people have a chance to make their voice heard.
> As a proposal of freedom, it was set up progressively, in response to
> the actions of certain public institutions. It was diametrically
> opposed to the increasing politicisation of how culture is used. It
> hosted heated debates over the arbitrary nature of certain
> interventions in the national heritage and shortcomings in public
> education. It denounced town-planning disputes and an incoherent
> cultural policy focussed on creating infrastructures without any
> content. It was where the paradoxes of the Encuentro Mundial de las
> Artes (World Art Encounter) and the Valencia Biennial were disclosed;
> where the opposition was organised against closing the Centre del
> Carme, denouncing the deterioration in the IVAM programming.
>
>
> After the debates in the meeting, Realitats de la ciutat, organised by
> CIUTADANS PER UNA CULTURA DEMOCRATICA I PARTICIPATIVA, whose goal was
> to provide a reasoned critique of the cultural policies of our Region,
> a campaign was begun to pressure and undermine supporters of the
> initiative. Attempts at coercion targeted different artistic and
> educational institutions in Valencia, Barcelona and Alicante, which
> were directly contested by the authorities, including the IVAM
> management. Some months later, as the 2nd Valencia Biennial was
> ending, the pressure was stepped up on the e-valencia.org project,
> until the Universidad de Alicante was persuaded to stop the service.
> This decision cast doubt on the independence of universities and
> established a serious precedent.
>
>
> The closure of e-valencia is the outcome of imperialistic action
> stemming from the most absolute institutionalised obscurantism. It
> forms part of the political opacity that has become the guiding
> principle behind Valencian cultural institution's behaviour. This form
> of action displays a two-sided discourse of power. Firstly, we hear
> the public voice referring to tolerance, democracy and dialogue. Then
> we perceive the hidden voice of coercion, which silences any
> discrepancy. This kind of political attitude needs to be changed.
>
>
> As citizens committed to culture and democratic participation in
> public affairs, we consider this closure to be an action showing an
> extremely grave lack of social responsibility, without any ethical
> legitimacy, infringing the rights of artistic authorship, whilst
> trying to limit free thought. There can be no real freedom of thought
> unless society facilitates suitable channels for communication.
>
> It is an absolute priority for the general public and the artistic
> community in particular, to mobilise together, in order to preserve
> the small spaces of freedom that guarantee at least an incipient
> participation by citizens in public affairs. The disappearance of
> Daniel G. Andujar's artistic project is not just comparable to the
> destruction of any other artwork in more conventional format, but also
> represents an irreparable loss for society, condemning to silence the
> over 750,000 users who have employed its pages to make their voice
> heard.
>
> The development of civil society and democracy require a social
> liberty that encourages different ways of thinking and reasoning to
> live together in peace, that makes room for discrepancy and
> theoretical conflict. Progress is impossible if we fail to take a
> critical look at the present.
>
> That is why we feel we must request Mr. Gonzalez Pons, Regional
> Minister for Culture in Valencia, to fulfil his promises to promote
> the implementation and development of new technologies. He must put an
> immediate stop to such coercive activities, imposing respect towards
> authors and towards the freedom of creative enterprise and
> untrammelled dissemination of thought. In a nutshell, what we are
> demanding is a transparency that raises any cultural policy pursued
> from now on above any hint of suspicion.
> adhesions:
> castellano
> http://www.e-valencia.org/guestbook/
> jax_guestbook.php?page=1&language=spanish
>
> catalan
> http://www.e-valencia.org/guestbook/
> jax_guestbook.php?page=1&languageEtalan
>
> english
> http://www.e-valencia.org/guestbook/
> jax_guestbook.php?page=1&language=english
>
> french
> http://www.e-valencia.org/guestbook/
> jax_guestbook.php?page=1&language=french
>
> german
> http://www.e-valencia.org/guestbook/
> jax_guestbook.php?page=1&language=german
>