Jan Robert Leegte's work is part of The Weekly Package*: Cuba's "offline internet", curated by Nestor Siré.

!!!A R T Section (2015 - 2019)

!!!A R T Section is a digital archive focused on art that circulates monthly in the Weekly Package since 2015.

The Weekly Package is an informal medium for the circulation of
information, which specializes in entertainment content. With 1 TB
of capacity, the WP has national distribution through a weekly
subscription service. This initiative has no institutional support;
behind the compilation and circulation of this database, there is a
widespread network based on a hand-to-hand distribution system. The
cost of the Weekly Package is approximately 2 dollars.

!!!A R T Section reproduces the Weekly Package concept; both are
based in a folder/directory structure to be consumed while offline.
!!!A R T Section follows the Weekly Package rules, avoiding the use
of pornography or political materials. However, because of its
artistic nature, !!!A R T Section pushes the limits of what can be
understood as both pornography and political content.

Inside !!!A R T Section takes place a circulation of art news,
current and upcoming gallery openings, books, documentaries and
open calls for artists. !!!A R T Section includes a virtual
gallery, the F O L D E R =gallery=, which is designed as a space
for artworks specifically created to be displayed in the context of
the Weekly Package. To make this possible, artist Nestor Siré, in
collaboration with the guest artists, also becomes the curator and
producer of these works.

Since 2015, artists, writers, designers, filmmakers, and curators,
both Cuban and foreign, had participated in the en F O L D E R
=gallery=. These guests have taken into account for the creation of
their works, not just the Weekly Package particularities, but also
its national reach, and the devices that these audiences use to
consume the artworks –mostly in computers or television sets with
USB ports.

In the context of the Havana Biennial, !!!A R T Section will launch
a daily work through its F O L D E R =gallery=. As a whole, these
works will be consist of a collective exhibition under the title of
“!!!Act [No.22]” (or in english “The Update”) Taking advantage of
the recent evolution of the Weekly Package into a daily updated
database, we will make the artworks available in the street stands
which are also selling spots for the Weekly Package. However, the
artworks will also be available through the regular weekly
subscription. For practical reasons, and only for this month,
!!!A R T Section will be reduced to 1 GB.

The works distributed in The Weekly Package will become public
domain materials, and at the same time, they will reach approximately ten million people throughout the country.

 

* El Paquete Semanal ("The Weekly Package") or El Paquete is a one terabyte collection of digital material distributed since around 2008 on the underground market in Cuba as a substitute for broadband Internet. In 2015 it was the primary source of entertainment for millions of Cubans.

Publication date: 11 Apr '19