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The I Mobilefest International Seminar had, on its opening ceremony, the participation of Marcelo Bechara, Ministry of Communications representative, Elisa Santive, Sesc Paulista manager and, Mobilefest organisers, Marcelo Godoy and Paulo Hartmann.

The initial conference of the seminar was delivered by American anthropologist, Heather Horst, University of California, and based on her latest book “The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication” (Oxford and NY: Berg, 2006), in partnerships with Daniel Miller, explores the specific implications of the use of mobile phones and the mobile phone industry in the rural and urban areas of Jamaica.

Heather broached the issue regarding the relationship between culture and the new universal communication medium. Through a very fine and detailed presentation about the mobile phone situation in Jamaica and her research methodology , she pointed out that among the needy communities in Jamaica, not only was the kind of communication different but, also the use and meaning attached to using mobile phones. During her research, Heather could realise that besides being an instrument that intensifies the family and friends relationships, mobile’s main use is towards the creation and maintenance of extensive social networks, reflecting a constant search to expand the personal contacts universe, which Heather and Miller have called “link up” (a series of short calls that signalize to the speaker that his/her relationships are kept until they need to request something in particular). It’s interesting to observe that, in this context, the mobile gets a rather different use than the expected for it does not work only to get jobs and to help the development of commercial ventures, that is, at least among the low income inhabitants, the mobile is much more a tool to obtain money rather than making money.

Other interesting uses observed by Heather and that were examples for later reflections during the I Mobilefest International Seminar have to do with its role at dynamising public services and other mutual assistance activities. Heather affirmed that significant improvement has happened regarding inhabitants security feeling since now they can call the police from their own homes , as well as a meaningful raise of anonymous denounce calls . She has also indicated another role of mobile phones as to facilitate the taxi system to communicate with physicians, hospitals and health centres in the remote rural areas more easily and quikly, considering the inexistence of an extensive and reliable ambulance service.

The first round table of the International Seminar, entitled “Mobile Technology as education and transformation tool” had the participation of specialists and researchers linked to projects that use mobile technologies to develop new social and education processes. The discussion involved important confluences between these experiences, besides the issue regarding the constitution of networks linked, in a few cases, only by educational pre-requisites and in others as a means of incentive and promotion of social organisation in order to practice citizenship. The members of the table were: David Cavallo, Graham Brown-Martin,Paulo Henrique Ferreira,Heather A.Horst, Max Leite and, Gilson Schwartz as mediator.

Panel 1, “Vibrating music sheets”, had a rather heterogenic composition with industry representatives, Leonardo Xavier, Gustavo Mansur, Pedro Paranaguá, and mediation by journalist Alexandre Matias.

The final round table of the first day of discussions was “Games and Behaviours” and its members were Alberto Magno, Amyris Fernandez, Jinwoo Chung, Hyejin Choi, Maroussia Lévesque, mediated by Marcelo Carvalho.

The second day of activities of the I Mobilefest International Seminar opened with a Videocelular Audiovisual Exhibition , with works selected by Festival Telemig Celular art.mov (Brazil) and Mobifest - Festival of Films for Mobile (Canada).

The first round table, “The society of the mobile spectacle” – paraphrasing the a provocation by the philosopher Guy Debord - about the unfolding of the consumption society and mass communication of post-second war– proposed a more general reflection upon the western culture in times of quick and unexpected technological revolutions, through the new ways of relationship between the ordinary person with arts and communication means and mass consumption.

In order to take this challenge beyond, the table counted on the participation of personalities from various contexts: psychoanalyst Suely Rolnik, as mediator; photographer Juca Varella , artist and researchers Adriene Jenik and Christian Wiener.

Our guests discussed upon the potentialities of the new mobile technologies as trangressors or reaffirmers of the logic of the society of spectacle. Several considerations were brought up regarding the new forms of perception of time and social world as well as related to interactivity spaces conformation marked by immateriality and simultaneity of relationships, able to involve a growing number of people actively.

The following panel, M-Marketing - Commerce and Advertising on mobile, reunited members of main players in the new marketplace of mobile medium , such as Andreas Blazoudakis , Otakar Svacina , Felipe Albuquerque Pereira and, Fernando Teco Sodré as mediator. Our aim was to establish an exploratory path about the transformation of the mobile in many areas of the commerce, services and, government.

One of the aspects of the mobile marketplace intensively discussed was the issue of dynamising the production networks and alternative commercialization to places before isolated in the national and international marketplace. do mercado nacional e international.

In the last panel, Locative Media: Where are we? , the idealisers presented a rich discussion about development and improvement of location medium and the meanings they acquire within the mobile world. It was composed by Rob van Kranenburg, Daniel Oelsner Lopes , Juan Carlos Zuñiga Torres, Lucas Bambozzi and, mediated by André Lemos.

The I Mobile International Seminar had the discussion “Experiences in mobile arts”, as closing debate, delivered by multimedia artists Adriene Jenik and Giselle Beiguelman.

International Exhibition