On Tuesday, 29 April, Korppiradio, a Helsinki-based community radio, will broadcast When Systems Fail, an online radio discussion on autonomous organising systems addressing alternatives to our consumerist culture with artists and organisers from Manila, Tokyo, and Helsinki.

The broadcast is streamed at 1 pm (Helsinki) / 6 pm (Manila) / 7 pm (Tokyo) on Korppiradio.

When Systems Fail was developed by curator Lian Ladia, who is in Helsinki to take part in the Helsinki International Curatorial Programme, co-organised by HIAP and Frame Visual Art Finland.

Programme

The focus will be on discussing alternative solutions and direct action to our contemporary problems (ecology, economy, politics) in the context of the cities of Manila, Tokyo, and Helsinki.

As human beings we are united in our own capacities for philosophy, science and self-education. The educational landscape that persists in our own consumerist culture cannot be addressed by the pervading standards of our current societal behaviours. As individuals, we do not find the urgency in confronting and acting upon our current ecological crisis. As a traditional neoliberal society, the focus is more on competition rather than cooperation.

The discussion on the radio platform is an artistic endeavour, which in itself is an autonomous organising body. The resource people include artists and organisers who have been recommended by the community book stores and info shops of their cities.

Participants

Korppiradio (Helsinki) is a Vallila-based community radio dedicated to creative cooperation. It operates autonomously without any censorship or intervention. Its broadcasts focus on various forms of local culture, events, the Finnish music scene, as well as political dialogue and media analysis.

Paavo Järvensivu (Helsinki) is a postdoctoral researcher of economic culture. He has taken part in the critical discussion on economic growth through various events, lectures and writings. He is a member of Mustarinda, a nonprofit organisation founded in 2010 to foster ecological and cultural diversity.

Jong Pairez (Manila) is a media artist based between Manila and Tokyo. He is the founder of Civilisation Laboratory (CIV:LAB), a tactical space dedicated to research and design of sustainable and alternative living, a site to engage civilisation and find ways to survive through shared experiences of man-made and eco disasters.

England Hidalgo (Manila) is an artist based in Manila. His work discusses the deluge of information and repetitiveness of “transferred” symbolic meanings and recurring headlines in the news stands. He has also done graphic design for various punk albums and event flyers in San Francisco, USA and Manila, Philippines. He is the founder of Over and Out, a sculpture and concept for a collapsible info shop and library of South East Asian zines.

Bas Umali (Manila) is a writer and organiser making strong contributions to the anarchist movement in the Philippines. He is the founder of Onsite Info shop and has written the concept paper, Re-emergence of Philippine Anarchism, which combines the principles of the traditional Philippine communities, the barangays, with a grassroots confederation. He is involved with the mobile education initiatives for flood awareness/preparation and climate crises campaign and publications, and programmes bringing solar technology to marginalised communities.

Wataru Tsurumi (Tokyo) is a former magazine editor and author of the book The Complete Manual of Suicide. His recent book Post Capitalism Declaration is a book that criticises global economy and the principle of economic growth. Tsurumi currently lives in Kunitachi, West Tokyo, advocating self-sufficiency and radical sustainable living by doing subsistence agriculture and gardening. He is also very active in anti-nuclear actions.

Keisuke Narita (Tokyo) runs an anarchist info shop Irregular Rhythm Asylum (IRA) in Tokyo. The info shop is located in the heart of Shinjuku and has been serving the anti-authoritarian communities since 2004. Narita is also a graphic designer and organiser. He co-organised the No! G8 Info Tour and did the graphic design.

Harpee Harada (Tokyo) is an activist, graphic designer and illustrator. Along with her activist neighbourhood in Kunitachi, West Tokyo they manage a community garden and regularly run a flea market, dubbed “zero yen market”, where people exchange goods using the principles of gift economy.