Tag: makers

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Back in 2014 the FabLab in Donetsk, Ukraine, was closed at gunpoint at the command of someone who was a user of the space until then, and my acquaintance K who ran the Donetsk FabLab had to flee. In the past months I have regularly wondered about Ukrainian makers and small production companies. I’m sure all have been struggling.

During the pandemic lockdowns I ordered online with independent book stores and artisans in several European cities, to contribute something to their continuity.

After the summer I started looking for Ukraine based makers to similarly order some useful things, but I found it hard to find such makers. Then a FT journalist posted a number of links to Ukrainian brands in a Twitter thread, which I looked at.

I’ve ordered a blanket with the printed street pattern of Kyiv, which is a nice open data touch, from woolkrafts. A glass artefact from Olga Turetska, and two copies of an English language book on innovation in Ukraine from Osnovy Publishing. In a conversation with one of the staff at the publishing house, I was pointed to a newly launched online platform where you can find Ukrainian products. It’s called Made with Bravery. The list of makers selling through the platform is slowly growing.

My packages are making their way to me, and one has reached Dutch customs. If you order something too, do allow for a longish shipping period. There are other logistical issues way more important in Ukraine at the moment than delivery of commercial packages.

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Saturday I visited the Maker Faire in Eindhoven. Jeroen of the Frysklab team invited me to come along, when their mobile FabLab was parked in our courtyard for Smart Stuff That Matters. They had arranged a touring car to take a group of librarians and educators to the Maker Faire, and invited me to join the bus ride. So I took a train to Apeldoorn and then a taxi out to a truck stop where the bus was scheduled to stop for a coffee break, and then joined them for the rest of the drive down south.

The Maker Faire was filled with all kinds of makers showing their projects, and there was a track with 30 minute slots for various talks.
It was fun to walk around, meet up with lots of people I know. Lots of projects shown seemed to lack a purpose beyond the initial fascination of technological possibilities however. There were many education oriented projects as well, and many kids happily trying their hand on them. From a networked agency point of view there were not that many projects that aimed for collective capabilities.

Some images, and a line or two of comment.

Makerfair Eindhoven
En-able, a network of volunteers printing 3d-printed prosthetics, was present. Talked to the volunteer in the image, with his steam-punk prosthetic device. They printed 18 hands and arm prosthetics for kids in the Netherlands last year, and 10 this year until now. Children need new prosthetics every 3 to 6 months, and 3d printing them saves a lot of costs and time. You even get to customise them with colors, and your favourite cartoon figure or super hero.

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3d printing with concrete, a project in which our local FabLab Amersfoort is involved. Didn’t get to see the printer working alas.

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Novelty 3d printing of portraits.

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Building your own electronic music devices.

Makerfair Eindhoven Makerfair Eindhoven
Bringing LED-farming to your home, open source. Astroplant is an educational citizen science project, supported by ESA.

Maker Faire Eindhoven Maker Faire Eindhoven
Robot football team versus kids team. Quite a few educational projects around robotics were shown. Mostly from a university of applied sciences, but with efforts now branching out to preceding education levels. Chatted to Ronald Scheer who’s deeply involved in this (and who participated in our Smart Stuff That Matters unconference).

Maker Faire Eindhoven Maker Faire Eindhoven
A good way to showcase a wide range of Microbit projects by school children. I can see this mounted on a class room wall.

Maker Faire Eindhoven Maker Faire Eindhoven
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An open source 3d-printed, arduino controlled android. But what is it for? Open source robotics in general is of interest of course. There were also remote controlled robots, which were quite a lot of fun, as the video shows.

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At the fringe of the event there was some steam punk going on.

Maker Faire Eindhoven Maker Faire Eindhoven
Building with card board boxes for children. Makedo is an Australian brand, and next to their kits, you can find additional tools and elements as 3d printable designs online.

Maker Faire Eindhoven
The Frysklab team presented the new Dutch language Data Detox kit, which they translated from the English version the Berlin based Tactical Tech Collective created.

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Earlier today I gave a short talk at 3D Camp in Limerick, Ireland. I explored how open data can inform digital making, and how digital making can help create data. So that we can get around to making things that matter, that solve something for us or the communities we’re part of. Away from making as an individual act, creating a single object. We’re not living up to the potential of social media, open data, internet of things and digital making. In part because we’re still learning, in part because these four things form silos, with not much cross-over. So I discussed how to build a bridge between open data and making. So we can best make use of the new affordances these new tools give us. That goes beyond acquiring skills (like being able to operate a laser cutter) to becoming making literate where you are able to detect what is needed for your living environment to work/be better, then conceptualize, and make a solution, that creates impact through application.

Slides below.