This years annual Desh Pardesh Festival of Diasporic South Asian Art/Culture in Toronto, Canada, promises to be exciting and particularly relevant to Chowkwalas. The novelty this year is the initiation of a "New Media Component" which will explore the art, culture, and politics of the latest communication medium, the Internet.
The focus in this part will be on virtual communities, their politics, their possibilities, their potential for inter-cultural alliances.

Further details of the event are laid out in the following excerpt from the official announcement of the Festival.

Whether you decide to submit your work, structure a workshop or panel discussion, or happen by as a curious observer, July 23-26 in Toronto will be the time and place for Art and Internet lovers.


CALL FOR NEW MEDIA WORKS:
9th Annual DESH PARDESH CONFERENCE/FESTIVAL -

July 23-26th 1998, Toronto, Canada

Desh Pardesh, in association with InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre and CyberStage Communications, is seeking work from both established and emerging new media artists for the new media component of the 1998 Festival and Conference.

Desh Pardesh presents the annual Festival and Conference which celebrates new expressions, and facilitates the development of Diasporic South Asian arts, culture, and politics in the West. The Festival/Conference is an inter-cultural event including multi-disciplinary programs, workshops, panels, forums, dances, and more.

Desh Pardesh encourages and supports submissions from Diasporic South Asian communities. Desh Pardesh also encourages and supports cross-cultural collaborations among Diasporic South Asians, first nations and people of colour.

++New Media Component++

Popular doctrine on the state of new technology, in particular the Internet, as democratizer and borderless communicator. Clearly, new technologies are revolutionizing our interactions - our modes of information, communication and participation. In turn, indigenous communities and communities of colour continue to make vital contributions to the dialogue regarding both the positive and negative potential of new technologies. The new media component of the Festival/Conference has been initiated to explore the art and activism of Diasporic South Asians, First Nations and other communities of colour through their use of digital technology and it surrounding discourse.

++Theme++

COMMUNITIES VIRTUAL

In this first venture into new media, Desh Pardesh proposes to re-examine our understanding of community in light of the emerging Virtual Communities which have come out of a history of local bulletin board systems and now from the Internet. What part do geography, history, language and art play in defining community? How do we address the keystone issue of access to Virtual Communities? What models are being invented which will allow for our inclusion and participation? What new visions and strategies for inter-cultural and inter-national alliances need to be explored? Beyond on-line communities, how do we create an on-line culture?

The host of the new media component of the Festival/Conference is InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, located in downtown Toronto. Three streams of activity around the theme of Communities Virtual will be considered:

i) panels discussions and workshops: themes for suggested panel discussions may be submitted, and do not necessarily need to include names of panelists in order to be considered; suggested workshops should be of a practical, hands-on nature rather than just theoretical

ii) artist presentations: work an artist has done exploring this theme, using their work as an example of such exploration

iii) art installations and online artworks: selected submissions will be part of a gallery exhibit at InterAccess during the Festival/Conference

Some work, panels, workshops and presentations may be considered for a special publication looking at building communities on the net, to be published by CyberStage Communications in late 1998.

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(Please refer to the South Asian Visual Arts Collective Call for Submission Form, regarding the visual arts discipline. Contact SAVAC Coordinator Shelly Bahl @ 416.340.0485 Ext. 3)


Part 2 :

++OBJECTIVES and PRINCIPLES++

ABOUT DESH PARDESH

Desh Pardesh is a Toronto-based organization of artists, cultural producers and activists from the South Asian Diaspora. Through our annual festival and conference, as well as through special events through out the year, Desh Pardesh celebrates new expressions and encourages the development of Diasporic South Asian arts, culture and politics in the West.

http://home.ican.net/~desh


ABOUT INTERACCESS

Established in Toronto since 1982, InterAccess is Toronto's arts centre focusing on electronic media. We offer exhibition opportunities exclusively for electronic media artworks and events in our downtown gallery space, and on-going public dialogue and critique through presentations, user groups, and informal forums within our unique local community. Access to our production facility gives artists the opportunity to develop works in-house for exhibition and distribution.

http://www.interaccess.org


ABOUT CYBERSTAGE

CyberStage Communications publishes resources for the culture/technology community. Recognizing the convergence between the artistic and scientific communities, CyberStage examines the use of technology by new and traditional artists, and the emerging artistic sensibilities which are working their way into the development of the new media industries.

http://www.cyberstage.org