{"id":77493,"date":"2026-02-10T21:47:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/?p=77493"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:17:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:17:58","slug":"semana-de-la-cultura-libre-with-cc-uruguay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/2026\/02\/10\/semana-de-la-cultura-libre-with-cc-uruguay\/","title":{"rendered":"Semana de la Cultura Libre with CC Uruguay"},"content":{"rendered":"
In November 2025, we had the privilege of supporting and participating in <\/span>Semana de la Cultura Libre<\/span><\/i> (Open Culture Week) in Montevideo, Uruguay: a week-long celebration of open culture organized by CC Uruguay. Through panels, workshops, concerts, and conversations, the week offered a powerful reminder that free culture is not an abstract idea but a living practice shaped by local communities, histories, and needs.<\/span><\/p>\n What stood out most was not only the richness of the programming but how clearly this event illustrated both the strengths and the challenges of open culture work today, especially in a rapidly enclosing digital environment.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the most striking takeaways from conversations with<\/span> Ileana Silva<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Jorge Gemetto<\/span><\/a>, who lead <\/span>the CC Uruguay chapter<\/span><\/a>, was how deeply DIY culture thrives in Uruguay. Artists and organizers share freely, collaborate generously, and remix constantly, often without explicitly using CC licenses.<\/span><\/p>\n This speaks to something important: openness as a cultural instinct often precedes openness as a legal or technical practice. At the same time, the chapter shared a recurring challenge they face in outreach: many people conflate content that is merely available online with content that is truly free and open. For example, a common response to projects like <\/span>Musicalibre.uy,<\/span><\/a> which curates openly licensed music, is: \u201cWhy would I need openly licensed music? I already use Spotify.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This points to a growing need to remind people why the commons matters, even before getting into how to use CC licenses.\u00a0 As platforms become increasingly proprietary and extractive, user convenience can obscure a loss of agency, access, and collective ownership underneath. These topics, such as the political economy of the internet, feel especially important to continue to surface in the face of AI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The opening panel, \u201cWhat do we talk about when we talk about free culture? Practices and challenges,\u201d set the tone for the week. Speakers addressed themes including:<\/span><\/p>\n We were thrilled to use this space to introduce attendees to the <\/span>Open Heritage Statement<\/span><\/a> and the work of the Open Heritage Coalition (formerly TAROCH), and look forward to more engagement from Uruguay!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa Watch the <\/span>r<\/span>ecording<\/span>:<\/span><\/i> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2prAjdbiHLQ<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n It was great to see workshops throughout the week showing the many ways people use open source tools for creative practices and for aiding research as well as demonstrating how art has always been a practice of inspiration and remixing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One notable observation: some of the most active participants in these sessions were younger creators who used open source tools in their creative process that were not CC licenses. This raised compelling questions about how CC might further support open resources for design, publishing, and artistic production to encourage the use of digital technology in the creative process outside the scope of what AI has to offer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Content warning: discussions included references to genocide and mass surveillance.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n One of the most powerful moments of the week came during the panel on Apartheid-Free Technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Panelists shared their experiences and perspectives on technologies and AI tools being used in systems of surveillance, repression, and genocide. These conversations underscored the importance of allowing CC chapters the autonomy to convene discussions that reflect their political viewpoints as they intersect with today\u2019s technology and all of its uses.<\/span><\/p>\n Live music programming brought joy and immediacy to the week. Local bands who release their music under Creative Commons licenses performed for free, demonstrating that openness is not a theoretical commitment but a practical, sustaining choice.<\/span><\/p>\n The relaunch of <\/span>Radio Com\u00fan<\/span><\/a>, a CC-licensed online radio station, offers an enduring home for this work\u2014extending the spirit of <\/span>Semana de la Cultura Libre<\/span><\/i> well beyond the week itself.<\/span><\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa Watch a clip from the performance<\/span>:<\/span><\/i> https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/JyVbDasxiiY?feature=share<\/a><\/p>\n We supported <\/span>Semana de la Cultura Libre<\/span><\/i> with a small grant\u2014an approach we are piloting to engage more with regional events in the community.\u00a0 With the help of these funds, the chapter was able to:<\/span><\/p>\n We were thrilled to be invited to attend the event as a participant rather than a host. This allowed the chapter to center the issues that matter most to their community, while highlighting their work to CC HQ.<\/span><\/p>\n In the coming months:<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re grateful to CC Uruguay for their leadership, care, and vision, and we look forward to building what comes next together.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In November 2025, we had the privilege of supporting and participating in Semana de la Cultura Libre (Open Culture Week) in Montevideo, Uruguay: a week-long celebration of open culture organized by CC Uruguay. Through panels, workshops, concerts, and conversations, the week offered a powerful reminder that free culture is not an abstract idea but a living practice shaped by local communities, histories, and needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":77495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77493"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77529,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77493\/revisions\/77529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Free Culture Is Alive\u2014Even When the Licenses Aren\u2019t<\/b><\/h2>\n
Opening the Week: Free Culture in a Time of Extraction<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Tools, Practices, and New Generations of Makers<\/b><\/h2>\n

Technology, Power, and Accountability<\/b><\/h2>\n
Music, Radio, and the Commons in Practice<\/b><\/h2>\n
Small Investments, Big Impact<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Looking Ahead<\/b><\/h2>\n
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