Picture this: A warehouse in the middle of an industrial area
transformed into a conference room where intellectuals and Internet passionate
gathered to share their Internet related stories with a very interested
audience. Because that’s what SHARE is about after all: sharing ideas,
knowledge and creativity.
This weekend-long event started Friday October 5th with
an opening party on the roof of Solea V, a warehouse in Sin el Fil. The
following days were all about conferences with speakers from all around the
world, tackling various subjects such as Internet security, empowerment of
individuals, censorship, diversity, creation, technology, music and science but
also the absence of Internet. Indeed, Abigal H Tar, a Cuban alternative
filmmaker and blogger talked about the inaccessibility of Internet in Cuba. She
explained that the only way to access Internet there is through a dial-up
connection (which is very expensive, 1$ per minute) and thus very few people
use it.
Maya Zankoul, a Lebanese graphic designer and illustrator captured
the attention of the audience with her remarkable presentation. She shared her
success story explaining how she switched from a simple blog where she shared
her comics about typical Lebanese anecdotes, to publishing her drawings in the
form of a book that made it to the “Top 5” at Virgin Megastore!
Naeema Zarif spoke about Creative Commons, an online platform where
individuals can decide to share all kind of documents they produced such as
music, photos, writings etc… She explained how people can actually use any
document as it is shared on that website and even modify its content to
correspond their needs.
Between the speakers was also Thom Cummings, the mastermind behind
Soundcloud, the revolutionary audio distribution platform. Some of the speakers
even had Q&A session where people could actually discuss with them the
issues they talked about during the lecture.
A corner of the venue was transformed into a “Museum of Censorship”
by the Lebanese NGO March. It featured information on all kind of art things
that got censored in Lebanon such as movies, music albums, books, newspaper
articles, websites etc.
Next to the “Museum of Censorship”, an art exhibition featuring
paintings tackling subjects such as freedom of expression and censorship took
place.
At night, Solea V’s rooftop along with several well-selected clubs
and alternative venues in Beirut held a musical festival where local, regional
and international artists played their tunes and shared their energy.
The event ended in a very atypical way. Improv Everywhere
initiative decided to do their specialty: causing a scene. Indeed, this comedic
performance art group knows how to have fun without harm. After getting the
instructions of the mission, attendees of the event headed to ABC (Ashrafieh)
mall’s third floor and gathered in front of the cinema. They had to write a
list of the top three things that makes them smile on a small pink cardboard
and give it to a random person without explaining anything. Least is to say
that chaos was set!
