MetaForum
MetaForum was a series of annual conferences organised by the Media Research Foundation from 1994-1996 in Budapest. The organising committee included Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, and János Sugár.
"The series, primarily organised by the Media Research Foundation, began in 1994, with the topic of multimedia. This small, chaotic event included CD-ROM and the World Wide Web, which was just gaining attention in the explosive hype of the Internet. There were no commercial Internet providers in Hungary, and just three Hungarian CD-ROMs. The lack of a working Internet connection during the event led to a heated debate between representatives of the Hungarian Telecom and East Edge, a group of Hungarian students well acquainted with the Internet. This debate led to MetaForum II/NO BORDERS/Budapest Networking Conference in 1995. These were international topics, and perhaps even more important in Hungary, where bad telephone lines and a general lack of expendable wealth magnify the issues of new communication technologies in the West. MetaForum III followed with the subject of content, which has become the crucial element in the new media discourse. " (organisers, 1996)
The participants included Richard Barbrook, John Perry Barlow, Konrad Becker, Tamas Bodoky, Heath Bunting, Vuk Ćosić, Nina Czegledy, H.C. Dany, Erik Davis, Manuel DeLanda, Matthew Fuller, David Garcia, Ferenc Gerloczy, Mieke Gerritzen, Rop Gongrijp, Debra Guzman, E. "Gomma" Guarneri, John Horvath, Heiko Idensen, Gabor Kelemen, Max Kossatz, Attila Kotányi, George Legrady, Olia Lialina, Alpar Losoncz, Eveline Lubbers, Oliver Marchart, Masuyama, Andras Nyiro, Benjamin Perasovic, Miklós Peternák, Gereon Schmitt, Pit Schultz, Alexei Shulgin, Mark Stahlman, Marleen Stikker, Barbara Strebl, Tamas Szalay, Katalin Timár, Jozsef Tillman, Laszlo Tolgyes, Toshiya Ueno, Walter van der Cruijsen, Salvatore Vanasco, Willem Velthoven, Charles Wessel, and Peter Lamborn Wilson.
An exhibition showcasing the MetaForum and Nettime-l documentation, entitled Select All, was held in June 1997 in Budapest. Included were video clips, texts, and other memorabilia tracing major topics that fueled the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web.
Editions
- MetaForum 94: multimedia, 7-9 October 1994.
Concept and programme. Announcement. - MetaForum II/NO BORDERS/Budapest Networking Conference, 6-8 October 1995.
Programme (DOC), HTML. Event website (HU). Report (IT). Intervention by Strato Network. Tomaso Tozzi's Netstrike. JP Barlow interview by Janos Sugar. - MetaForum III/UNDER CONSTRUCTION/Budapest Content Conference, 11-13 October 1996.
Programme (DOC) Concept and programme. Paper by Attila Kotanyi.
Photo documentation
Literature
- Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, János Sugár, "MetaForum (c) Bueno Bye! MetaForum, Select All/Clear", Dec 1996. [1]
- Szilvia Seres, "„Akkor már lehetett tudni, hogy a számítógép létezik és valahogy a jövő errefelé vezet, és végre ideológiamentesen lehetett valami korszerűt propagálni.” Seres Szilvia beszélgetése Sugár János képzőművésszel", Artmagazin, 23 May 2014. Interview with János Sugár. (Hungarian)
Links
- Project website (not archived)
- MetaForum on MRF
- Select All exhibition announcement