Postcolonial Piracy

The conference Postcolonial Piracy explores global aspects of cultural “piracy”. Sampling, copying or recycling of electronic materials can be the only way for artists in the southern hemisphere to gain access to globalized cultural production. What influence does this postcolonial piracy have on our interpretation of aesthetics and authorship?

This conference promotes a re-orientation that focuses on postcolonial piracy primarily as a strategy of access to global modernity and as a culture that demands to be understood in its own right. Participants will discuss examples from across the globe that show how both everyday and artistic strategies of medial copying and recycling are currently changing legal, economic, social and aesthetic concepts of authorship and originality.

Program

11:00 h
Keynote: Ravi Sundaram (Delhi): “The Lives of Media Piracy”

12:00 h
Lunch

13:00 h
Introduction: Ranjani Mazumdar (Paris/Delhi): “Introduction to Superman/ Supermen of Malegaon”

13:20 h
Film Screening: Supermen of Malegaon (dir. Faiza Ahmad Khan, 2008)
More information here: http://postcolonialpiracy.wordpress.com/supermen-of-malegaon/

14:30 h
Discussion: “Superman of Melegaon and Postcolonial Piracy” with directors Shaikh Nasir Niyazu Shaikh (Superman) and Faiza Ahmad Khan (Supermen)

15:30 h
Coffee

16:00 h
Plenary Debate: “Postcolonial Piracy and Creative Production Across the Globe”
This panel discussion, closing both the Postcolonial Piracy conference and the 2011 Worldtronics Festival, brings together artists and academics to discuss piracy and music production from a postcolonial perspective.Using musical examples, the panelists will address questions such as:- How does piracy affect politics of creative production (as in mixing, sampling, the recycling of musical structure)?- How do local histories and global designs of piracy affect the marketing, distribution and reception of music (taping, burning, P2P)?- How do such practices affect our notions of authorship and originality in the postcolonial pirate domain?

Panelists: Eblis Álvarez, Bogotá (Meridian Brothers, cf. Bogotá Boom) Adam Haupt, Cape Town (Postcolonial Piracy conference) Dawn-Elissa Fischer, San Francisco (Postcolonial Piracy conference), Brian Shimkovitz, New York (Curator of Ghana Hiplife) Henry Stobart, London (Postcolonial Piracy conference) Gebrüder Teichmann, Berlin (Curators of They call it Skweee!!!)

„Postcolonial Piracy“ is organized in co-operation with Universität Potsdam. On December 2. and 3, the conference takes place at Literaturwerkstatt (Kulturbrauerei).
The program on Dec 2 and 3