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Between 2013 and 2014 I visited several hackerspaces, coworkings, creative houses and other similar collaborative spaces in various cities in South America. It was a type of experience that was expanding rapidly throughout the region after a few years of incubation.
For the newbies: What is a hackerspace? Well, there are several answers but I’ll take the one from Hackspace San Salvador: The hackerspace is a collaborative environment that invites to create and share knowledge. It brings together professionals and enthusiasts of computer science, electronics, science and arts in order to create or implement technological solutions to solve any kind of problems.
Coworkings, on the other hand, are places set up for rent and where the same workspace is shared, both physical and virtual, to develop professional projects independently, while at the same time fostering joint projects. Some hackspaces have coworkings, others do not.
So, taking advantage of these visits I dared to make a small series of posts and interviews that I published on my main blog and then were republished in Global Voices, trying to give a vision of where the trends of the moment were going in this type of spaces. I invite you to revisit those posts:
Spaces: The Escuelab Community in Lima
Escuelab was a pioneer that captured the essence and brought together the various actors of civic hackerism in Lima, organizing workshops, conferences, hackathons and others. But furthermore, the imprint of the work they did still remains in several projects of similar inspiration.
Diferencial CAC: A Hacklab in Quito, Ecuador
A project that went through several changes and moves, and also in its own style marked an epoch in the city of Quito, with its special blend of art, technology, activism and digital culture in general. Unfortunately the project no longer exists, but what it did left its mark.
Casa del Bosque Foundation: Technopolitics and Activism in Bogotá
Although the Casa del Bosque Foundation has elements in common with all the other initiatives, what makes it particular is its strong political component, and not only in the technopolitical aspect. Throughout its existence, it has promoted various initiatives related mainly to technology in favor of citizen power and underrepresented communities.
Medellín’s Casa Tres Patios, a Space Where Modern Art Can Flourish
Basically Casa Tres Patios is an art laboratory, but its orientation towards collaborative knowledge has led it to host projects with a strong technological ingredient. On the other hand, they hold workshops and discussions to integrate their work with the surrounding community.
The Purple House, a Collective in Colombia’s Medellín ‘To Create, Enjoy and Find Ourselves’
Morada, or Casa Morada, is an initiative born in a complicated neighborhood in the Colombian city of Medellin, and although it does not fit into what we call hackerspace, its diverse proposals that combine art, education and citizen participation make us not hesitate to include it.
Some approaches to certain organizations were not succesful or for some now forgotten reason were left halfway, as in the case of the talks I had with the people of un/loquer in Medellín. Other interviewed projects, although very interesting, do not fit in the definition of collaborative spaces, such as Arte en el Trole, from Quito.
And what is the point of revisiting all this? you may ask. Well, to start a new series of posts about the present and future of the various existing collaborative spaces, which like many ventures in these pandemic times, may be hit hard by the restrictions that most governments have imposed to control the Covid19.
In other regions of the world things seem to be more or less active, according to what we read about global (read first world) coworking trends for 2021, the current state and future of coworking in Spain, or the responses of hackerspaces and makerspaces to the needs of the pandemic in the USA.
But in Latin America, outside of specialized circles, we are a bit lacking in news and network conversation about hackspaces and similar sites that share the collaborative, technological and citizen spirit that makes these types of spaces so interesting.
So after this first step we will periodically share what we find in our research on the subject, but we also want you to share with us what you know about hackspaces in your respective cities… tell us! We can all get more involved together!
