Paul
Mobbs/Mobbs' Environmental Investigation & Research
The Container Project
In 2003, I travelled to Jamaica for a month to assist in training
and building "The Container", a community-based computer and media
arts project based in Palmer's Cross, Clarendon. These pages document
my visit in the photographs I took whilst the project was under
construction, and in the music video that I made of the launch party.
For more recent pictures and information see the official Container Project web site at http://www.container-project.net/.
If you're curious you can also find Palmer's Cross on Google Maps – the location of The Container is marked with a green arrow.
What's "The Container"?
The Container is a project to develop a community computing centre in a 40-foot ISO container. The Jamaican-based project aims to 'repatriate technology' by giving people access to information technologies, and the skills to manipulate them, to serve their own purposes – for example, developing their own recording centres.
The idea, and the project that enacted it, was evolved by
Mervin
Jarman – a digital artist who grew up in Palmer's Cross. He's taken
the project forward since my involvement, involving more people, and in 2008
won the Stockholm Challenge Award for "lifelong learning using ICT for
community development" (for a more detailed interview with Mervin,
watch the video at the end of the page).
I was asked to get involved with the project because as well as a background
in working with communities/community education initiatives, I'd also done a
lot of work with developing computer resources from scrap as part of the
Free Range Network's Community-Linux
Training Centre project – a mobile ICT training system designed
for use with community groups in the UK. I travelled to Jamaica – with
the financial support of Media Arts Projects
– and worked there during late April and early May 2003. As well as
rebuilding computers and building the network, I also trained volunteers in
reclaiming hardware and documented the process in photographs and video.
My Palmer's Cross photo-diary
First Report, 16th April 2003
Arriving in Jamaica, and the first day at "The Container".
Second Report, 17th April 2003
More work on The Container, and the first system is installed.
Third Report, 19th April 2003
Beginning to put the computer systems together.
Fourth Report, 22nd April 2003
Getting somewhere, but users start getting in the way!
Fifth Report, 23rd/24th April 2003
The slow and painful process of getting the client machines operating.
Sixth Report, 25th April 2003
Making progress on installation, and Camille and Mike arrive
Seventh Report, 26th April 2003
Activities in The Container increase
Eighth Report, 27th-29th April 2003
Countdown to the launch – almost finished!
Ninth Report, 30th April 2003 – Launch Day
The Container is HERE!
Tenth Report, 1st-5th May 2003
The last five days in Jamaica – a trip to Kingston to spread the message!
"Computers in Cross" (April 2003)
The music video of the project
A 3min 44sec video that mixes a performance by 'The Weblink Crew'
at the launch of The Container, with video taken during the installation of
the computer systems. Available as a
6.8 megabyte
MP4 video file or a 6.5 megabyte
Ogg/Theorea video file (download to your hard disk and view locally).
You can also download a 2.7
megabyte MP3 file of the audio from the Weblink Crew's
performance.
Linux
Magazine Article on The Container,
which came out as a result of some work I did
immediately after my return.
April 2009: The Container goes from strength to strength
Mervin has continued to develop The Container idea, and now is starting to get the brilliance of his vision for "repatriating technology" recognised.View the YouTube video for a lot more information on what has happened at The Container since 2003, and on Mervin's future ideas for development.
For this and related videos on The Container and Mervin's work goto YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bh6AWp4Ds0