Date: Friday 27 March
Time: 14:00 - 17:00
Location: Varia (Gouwstraat 3, Rotterdam)

Varia’s Counter Coloniality Seed organises a Study Group in 2026. We (usually) meet on the last Fridays of the month, from 14 - 16/17h, in Varia.

The Counter Coloniality seed investigates the manifold ways in which colonisation - as attitude, process, knowledge imposition, organisational model, force and output - is deeply embedded into the technologies we use everyday. This is evident in various aspects of technologies we use routinely; from the human and environmental cost of rare-earth element extraction like cobalt or lithium used in device components, to the outsourcing and underpayment of labour in Africa and Asia for annotating artificial intelligence data or moderating disturbing content on commercial social media.

With this series we wish to open the research thread and study these topics collectively.

Led by a Varia member or co-programmer each month, the study group will cover the following themes: Defragmenting Data, Green Tech Colonialism, Divestment from Big Tech and Cold War Current.

For the first session, we propose to look at literature available on “AI” and its entanglements with extractive capitalism, colonialism, computation and power. We may take notes together and there will be snacks.

We would love for participants to join as many sessions as they can, in order to get continuity in our discussions and our group dynamic. To join, please send a message to info@varia.zone with the subject title [Counter Coloniality Seed Study Group] with your access needs and dietary requirements, if any.

This event falls within Varia’s Counter-Coloniality Seed research thread and is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.