About Winter Camp
Winter Camp is an event, organized by the Institute of Network Cultures and will take place 3-7 March ’09 in Amsterdam. Network Cultures Winter Camp will be a mix of presentations and work spaces with an emphasis on getting things done. It will be a four-day program of work spaces and plenary presentations, in which a dozen networks (each of which has 5-15 people) can work on their specific current topics.
March 3 a plenary opening in the evening
March 4 – 6 workshops & group sessions
March 7 plenary wrap up with presentations
Format
This specific format was inspired by the special cardboard box architecture with parallel workspaces, built by Paco Gonzalez for the 10th edition of the Zemos98 festival in Seville, Spain, in March 2008.
http://www.zemos98.org/spip.php?article891?rubrique=19.
Background info
When a network settles down, and is not so new anymore, it can be quite a challenge to keep it’s activity level. Should a network then transform into a so-called ‘organized network’? Organizing a network does not necessarily mean decreasing the level of spontaneity to make way for rules and hierarchy: it can provide a place for sustainable knowledge sharing and production. As Ned Rossiter argues in his book Organized Networks (2006), face-to-face meetings are crucial “if the network is to maintain momentum, revitalize energy, consolidate old friendships and discover new ones, recast ideas, undertake further planning activities, and so on.” Network Cultures Winter Camp is therefore meant for those networks and (potential) network members that need support to gather in real life, conspire, discuss and make the necessary steps forward. Winter Camp does not have an (academic) educational or training component, but there is a lot to learn.
Winter Camp will probably be held in a newly renovated former school building in the east part of the city, a multi-cultural area with streets named after the former Dutch colony Indonesia.
http://www.studio-k.nu/
http://www.stayokay.com/
Funding
This event is taken place with funding from Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Stichting Democratie en Media and Mondriaan Foundation.