Felipe Fonseca: MetaReciclagem

Once a land with little access to information technology, Brazil has seen a fast growth in the last decade as both commercial internet increased and government “digital inclusion” programs were implemented. The number of brazilians with access to the internet is still relatively small (67 million people out of a population of 192 million), but increasing in a fast pace (~75% growth in three years).

On a par with brazilian socially-aware popular cultures, an interconnected digital culture has been fostered. Brazilian people are avid users of internet (an estimated 48 hours a month). As early as 2004 with Orkut, Brazilians were already in the social network craze that only a couple years later hit the world with Facebook. For some time, Brazilian IPs were forbidden from creating new user profiles on Fotolog.net, as they were using too much bandwidth.

A dynamic scenario of artists, activists and researchers emerged, with dozens of independent networks, events, venues and projects that influenced even the institutionality. The Brazilian Ministry of Culture has been developing a strategic vision for electronic culture, implementing free software-based multimedia studios in thousands of grassroots cultural centers throughout the country, supporting open licensing and self-publishing.

It is in that context that MetaReciclagem was created. At first, in 2002, a collective in São Paulo focused on remanufacturing used computers, installing free and open source software and delivering them to social projects. Soon MetaReciclagem became an open network with hundreds of members in all regions of Brazil working with critical appropriation of ICTs. Through a strong emphasis on DIY and low tech, all sorts of used equipment are seen as instrumental, educational and artistic source materials that can be disassembled and remixed.

In MetaReciclagem Spora (local labs), youngsters have access to infrastructure, networking, knowledge and opportunities, working towards a future interconnected, commons-based economy. It has also inspired the creation of the international Bricolabs network – with more than a hundred members from the whole world working on issues such as open hardware, free software, free knowledge and open spectrum.