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The first ccSalon in South Africa proved to be less of a techno chat-fest and more of a learning experience for all involved.

You never really know what kind of people are going to turn up for a Creative Commons shindig.

It could be a collection of techno-experts (we don’t call them geeks in this community, thank you very much) who will baffle most people with discussions about Linux platforms and embedded systems.

Or you might run into the Cultural Freedom Fighters, who exist on the bleeding edge of the blogosphere and make culture like some people make money. Except, because they like to share their culture, a lot of the Cultural Freedom Fighters don’t make much money. But they do have nice laptops.

The last group you’ll generally spot at a Creative Commons (CC) party (usually standing very close to the cheese and wine tables) are the lawyers. These guys (and gals) talk about big important things like WIPO and IP and various Broadcast Acts in a way that most people can kind of figure out, but not fully understand.

Usually, the combination of the three is quite pleasant; they balance each other out, and conversation flows rather well. Everyone is generally on the same page when it comes to an understanding of the uses of CC and the various licences, and the potential that Creative Commons has to change the way we work, create and interact. But after a while, it does tend to get a little’¦ self-referential.

Which is why the idea of a ccSalon is so great ‘ it’s a way of bringing people (who don’t necessarily have much knowledge or experiences of CC) together into an informal space where they can learn and share and spread ideas and knowledge. And drink wine and eat little snacky things.

On the 31st of August, the first ccSalon was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Through a canny mix of the space (the Gordart Gallery in Melville) and people invited (the usual CC suspects, as well as artists, journalists, musicians, remixers and pretty young things who had no knowledge of CC at all) the ccSA team put together an outstanding evening of music, ideas and collaboration that worked extremely well.

The theme for the evening was ‘Remix Nation’, which, in the context of a society with 11 official languages, more than 13 ethnic groups, and a national motto that translates into ‘Unity in Diversity’; the theme couldn’t have been more appropriate.

In fact, DJ and CC user Richard III, who presented a series of mashups, put it perfectly: ‘I think there’s more to mashups than just mixing two pop songs together,’ he said, as his mix of Michael Jackson and Felix Laband got people bopping their heads. ‘It’s kind of a metaphor for living in the world ‘ the extremes that you see in this city ‘ a mashup is a way of taking two completely different things and putting them together. It says something.’

He’s right. Using the complexities of society as a source of inspiration for creativity isn’t a new idea. What is new is the way we’re able to do it ‘ technology has become easier to use and more people are able to create immediately accessible works. ‘It’s the copyright system that is the stumbling block,’ says Heather Ford, the Executive Director of iCommons. Which is exactly why it’s so important to spread the word about Creative Commons, and why the Salon is such an effective way to do it.

Over the course of the evening I spoke with journalists, curators, musicians and artists who had never heard of CC before that night. ‘So what exactly is this Creative Commons thing?’ was the most common question I heard. After a brief explanation (and I’m not even all that qualified to do the explaining) the response was, almost unanimously, ‘Damn, that’s amazing, do you understand what we could do with a system like that.’ It was a pleasure to see.

Another pleasure was artist Nathaniel Stern’s presentation on remix art. Focusing primarily on the work that he made during his time as the artist in residence at the iSummit in Rio De Janeiro earlier this year, he explained that, as artists creating work in the modern world, we are all, inherently, collaborators.

This idea of collaboration was also transmitted in an immediate, hands-on way by the décor. Visitors to the salon (can we call them salonistas?) were invited to remix traditional stories in visuals and words, and draw on giant paper cut-outs to create their own collaborative portraits. The value of these types of exercises in showing people how collaborative works are shaped by every one involved is priceless for showing the practical uses of CC as a creative tool.

The evening wound up with duo MtKidu, who mixed beats and visuals as another example of how remixing and reworking creativity can produce unique works. Actually, no, that’s a lie. The presentations may have ended there, but the party really wound up at Berlin Bar, where Richard III played some more, and the new ccSalonistas learnt that copyright pioneers also know how to party.

Check out more photos at Creative Commons South Africa’s Flickr page!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 12:57 12 and is filed under iCommons, Open Education, Open Entertainment, Open Community, ccSalon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.