Kernos

Mediterranean Arts Sciences

[go to the project’s website] / Note: the project was discontinued

Kernos is a map of the human and relational geographies of arts and sciences in the Mediterranean.

Kernos is a map of the subjects, locations, themes and relations of the arts and sciences in the Mediterranean rim.

It is created by practitioners in the arts and sciences, to start a participative reflection around the essence, meaning and values, patterns and differences in the arts and sciences across the Mediterranean, and to understand the possible, positive and constructive implications which derive from being able to reflect, to broaden the field of vision.

A map can refer to different types of geographies. For example Cyberspace is different from Place and from DigiPlace. In DigiPlace, for example, maps can represent geographies which are extremely complex: physical, financial (in the fact that they depend on economic and financial issues, such as subjects having purchased services to be highlighted on the map), behavioral (in the fact that the things that appear on the map may depend on your tastes, preferences and behaviors), and more.

This makes it problematic to define boundaries: where does the Mediterranean end in the DigiPlace?

In Kernos, we aim to reflect on the Arts and Sciences globally, as seen from the lens of the Mediterranean.

In Kernos multiple types of data and content co-exist: the information which subjects enter when they participate, the information drawn from their social media profiles, and the sources of data which we will attach to the system in the future.

All contribute to creating a shared, open, accessible, emergent, evolving data set which the community can freely use for its purposes: to visualize it, to self-reflect onto itself, to create strategies and collaborations for the arts and sciences, to understand existing collaborations, interactions, intersections, and possible ones.

Kernos can be used to self-reflect on the community of the arts and sciences in the Mediterranean.

These, for example, are the topics which are being discussed at a certain moment across all the participants’ social network presences, and can give insights about opportunities in the community, the identification of possible common actions, collaborations etc.

The structure itself of the communities can be explored, to understand where the people are, how thy interact and collaborate, whether they form alliances or separations, whether they attract and engage the same audiences, or on how to create interventions to extend audiences, collaborations, interactions.

Kernos is also a reflection on the availability, accessibility and usability of data, and on its implications for data-driven governance practices: in a global scenario in which data (of behavioral, relational and contextual types) is under the complete control of large global operators, the possibility to construct community-driven data sources, and to establish the shared policies and strategies in which data is collected, used, shared may lead to improved rights, freedoms, awareness an culture.

Kernos – communities in mediterranean arts sciences