Free Signals in the Desert

Kerchaou is a village in the Tunisian desert, where a community lives in extreme cultural and social isolation, facing the dangers of desertification, water shortages and lack of basic services. In 2003 a youth centre was founded in Kerchau, where ZaLab, in collaboration with  CRSS and Pro-digi, has opened a laboratory of IT and participatory videos. The laboratory aimed to respond to cultural and geographical isolation, offering to Kerchau people the possibility to be part of a project of cultural exchange on the topic of technology. The laboratory took place in two distinct moments, producing the two videos “A KG of Internet” and “K.E.R.CH.A.O.U.”.

Credits

Period: November 2005 – March 2006

Topics of the laboratory: new technologies, communication and digital divide, in the communitary context of Kerchaou

Partners: ZaLab, UTSS (Union Tunisienne de Solidaritè Sociale), CRSS (Centre Regional de Solidarité Social), University “la Sapienza” of Roma, Pro-digi.

Donors: Provincia di Roma, Assessorato alle Politiche Culturali, della Comunicazione e dei Sistemi Informativi

video:

A KG of Internet

K.E.R.CH.A.O.U.

documentary, 65 min, miniDV

Screened at Ksour Festival of Tatatouine, and Decouvertes Tunisie 21 Festival in El Jem (Tunisia, 2006). Yawm à El Jem collection

Prizes And Screenings

A KG of Internet  was screened in occasion of the World Summit on Information Society, Tunis, November 2005.

K.E.R.CH.A.O.U. was screened at Ksour Festival of Tatatouine, and Decouvertes Tunisie 21 Festival in El Jem (Tunisia, 2006). Yawm à El Jem collection