by Trebor Scholz

Rio de Janeiro currently presents its first media art festival. Four floors in the newly opened Centro Cultural Telemar are dedicated to "Prog:Me." Tickets are free for this venue that focuses on art and technology and the crowds of Rio are coming-- from kids who interact with game art pieces to youngsters who return to see the daily changing video program. This festival does not compete with the Electronic Language International Festival (FILE) that was founded in Sao Paolo in 2000 because mobility is still limited for most people here. The exhibition hopping art nomad is not far as common in Brazil as she may be in Europe or the United States. For the local context this festival offers an introduction to interactive media art installations, net art, and critical artist games. The symposium that is organized in tandem with the exhibition launched with a series of artist talks and presentations by media theorists from Brazil and North America.