A-CODE (Art and Collective for Digital Empowerment) is a collective created with the support of various organizations and individuals who are going to work together to find art and expression, culture and heritage. With a larger goal to advocate for the inclusion of arts in social change, our network members use art in various formats to express themselves and tell the world how we can develop as a community.
A-CODE network members have been collaborating with each other through various digital platforms. We hosted the ‘Festive Meet of Art and Collective for Digital Empowerment’ to provide a space of art and culture to amplify the voices of marginalised communities and raise issues of human rights.
Let Puppets Talk on Data Rights
The festive meet started with a puppet show by the team of Barefoot College from Tilonia, on the importance of data inclusion and rights-based activism. With the use of Kathputli art form, the team presented a narrative of how the world is increasingly becoming more digital but the divide between the urban and rural landscape is deepening the social and economic marginalisation of the communities due to lack of access and digital tools, knowledge of digital rights and financial digital literacy.
Let’s Decode A-CODE
A visual presentation on the inclusion on arts in social change and the journey of A-CODE so far was presented by the cohort members.
Watch this video to hear their stories: https://youtu.be/HsvmCd3T7pQ
Open Source Satellite
The Festive Meet was enriched even more through an interactive session on how to make a satellite by hand conducted by Ashhar Farhan, the designer of the BitX, a simple single-sideband transceiver that could be built for a very small outlay taking many of its components from a well-stocked junk box.
Magic See-Saw
Reviving the tradition art of the Madari community through a performance by magician Ishamuddin Khan. A practitioner of an age-old artform that is unique to our culture, Ishamuddin Khan is a street magician. Coming from the pivotal history of being a part of the seven performing tribes in India, he is a man who can depict the history of the universe, starting right from the Big Bang, through his performance. Today, he is a man who is trying to break the stigma that looks at the Madari community as ‘needy’ and equates their artform as ‘begging’, and strives to institutionalize performing artforms to make sure that they can be modelled, replicated and passed on.
Let’s Brainstorm Together
On this day, with the network members present, we also launched ‘Prelude to the Digital Future’ and conducted a panel discussion with the authors of the book. The panelists had a discussion around diverse and genuine solutions for creating a digital impetus to empower the MSME sector and the rural economy.
Digital Swaraj Fellowship Announcement
Digital Empowerment Foundation’s fellowship program that is a one-year experiential leadership journey to bring about a transformation at the grassroots. It is one-of-a-kind opportunity for the youth to contribute to society as a digital change leader. The fellows will have hands-on exposure to the rural digital landscape and work on innovative solutions to connect people digitally in a meaningful, effective and efficient way.
Let’s Rap
Community Design Agency, our A-CODE network member, travelled to Delhi with two young rappers who presented a powerful rap performance. They performed two songs that they had specially written for the festive meet on their powerful journey from the urban slums of Mumbai to become rights-based activists.
Art-Walk
An experiential showcase of art and culture for social change through an art exhibition, calligraphy workshop, interactive painting sessions, showcase of DEF’s technology and products of Digikargha made and curated by local artisans of India.
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