Mapeamento de levantes perto de Soweto em 1976 ganha prêmio na África. É o projeto Soweto Uprising”, de Ismail Farouk e Babak Fakhamzadeh (link do AfricaNews onde vocês podem ver uma entrevista em vídeo com Farouk). O interessante do projeto é que ele mescla novas tecnologias, como o “Google Maps” para re-escrever, re-interpretar e ressaltar aspectos da história de luta na África do Sul. O mapa é também um site colaborativo onde as pessoas podem anexar novas informações como fotos, por exemplo. Um dos objetivos é também discutir o novo “apartheid digital”.
“The objective was to map the school routes of the 1976 uprisings tells Farouk (33) in Grahamstown. ‘It is a google maps mash up. If you click on a location a window pops up, giving you information on the location and photos. As a user, you can contribute by uploading your own photos of the location using website flickr.com. We also scan the blog sphere to see what people are writing about the location.’
Important for the project was that it also maps other routes, like for example the one of the police in 1976 and another important protest in Soweto, the 1960 Positive Action Campaign of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) against pass laws. ‘One of the problems we are experiencing is that the history of the struggle is very ANC and male dominated. We want other voices to be heard.’
Farouk also wants to use the project to highlight the lack of internet access in Africa. ‘Globally we should be more aware of the lack of connectivity. In 1976 children went on the streets to protest against an oppressive education system en now there are similar barriers of having no access to an important global resource. They shouldn’t be left behind.’ Farouk wants to install his application in the Hector Pieterson museum to ensure the people in Soweto have access to it.”