Hello Reader,

We are once again looking for new members to join our collective space. If you're here then you might know a bit about us already, as a self-organised group that have a space in Charlois and put on events around everyday technology, do research and try things out together. You can read more here: https://varia.zone/en/pages/about.html

Would you like to become a member of Varia? If so, we invite you to share your interest with the group by reaching out to us via email.

We would like to get to know you, and have made the following application guidelines to facilitate the process:

First we would like to read a (brief) introduction to who you are and what your practice is. Even if you might know some of us, some members may not know you yet. Then we have compiled the following questions:

• Why would you like to be a Varia member?
• What does everyday technology mean to you?
• Is there any current Varia activity you would like to contribute to, or you have already contributed to?
• Do you have any activity/ies or projects in mind that you want to develop within Varia?

Before answering those questions, you can take a look at some of our membership guidelines. They share expectations, tasks, roles and the ways in which we work together.

Varia members:

• are active in a workgroup (estimate: 1-2 hours a week, 4-8 hours a month)
• are able to attend monthly member meetings (currently 1st Wednesday of the month, dinner 18:00 - 18:30 and meeting 18:30 - 20h)
• contribute to the common fund with the quarterly membership fees (currently €127 EUR)
• participate in the cleaning rota of the space
• are based in Rotterdam or nearby in order to physically attend meetings and worksessions

Varia is organised in a non-hierarchical manner. We operate through workgroups, which are currently Finance, Space, Infrastructure, Communication and Mediation.

The language commonly spoken among members is English, though we welcome different languages in the space and are happy to have more activities and communication in Dutch.

For the next two years Varia's public programme, Seasonal Computing - Collective Rhythms for Resourcefulness, is running three research strands: Access, Counter-Coloniality and Homebrewing. Within the theme of Seasonal Computing, the Access strand engages with the idea that public experiences are multiple, it wants to celebrate the various needs and contexts of diverse audiences. The Counter Coloniality strand intends to make visible the injustices of extractive processes and cultural hegemony, be that of raw materials, labour, cultural memory, and challenge false ideas of unlimited growth. The Homebrewing strand wants to co-create alternative understandings about the technologies we use, through collaboratively experimenting with homebrewed DIY/DIWO materials and so-called “amateurish” techniques, exploring urban nature and collecting our common knowledges into manuals, strategies and almanacs.

Other public programmes run alongside it, should you wish to propose something different.

We are curious to hear from you about ideas you may have for the workgroups, the research strands, and/or something else.

Members take care of the space, each other and visitors (for more info see our Code of Conduct).

We are committed to fostering a safe environment for people from traditionally under-represented groups. This means being mindful of our modes of interaction, but also to be proactive when unsafe situations arise. Each member has a key, can use the space and organise events, keeping in mind the collective aims of Varia and its surroundings.

The quarterly fee is currently used to pay for rent, bills, infrastructure and other collective needs.

We are currently 12 active members, who have a background in art, design, education, organising, software studies, programming, music, cooking, teaching, medicine, media theory. Within Varia we use and develop free software tools. Over the past seven years, Varia has experimented with the work of operating as a cultural organisation outside the confines of Big Tech technologies. This comes from a shared political stance against "extractive-racial-capitalist-earth-damaging tech" - and trying to put people, and more than people, needs back in the centre.

New members would join in with the collaborative running of Varia, developing or maintaining collective infrastructures (broadly understood), and bringing their perspective on everyday technology into play.

We do not accept current students as members.

To write to us, please send an email to info@varia.zone by Sunday 5th January with the subject line [ membership ]. You're also welcome to send us a voice recording or video, of up to 5 minutes, should that be your preferred communication style.

We will convene to make a collective decision on Wednesday 8th January. We aim to get back to you within 2 weeks.

Our current culture of collaboration and sharing of the space is crucial, so full consensus is needed to accept new members. Once we are in agreement, new members can join for an extended 'getting to know' period that we'll decide on together. 'Getting to know' time is aimed to help everyone feel comfortable in our collective rhythm.

Thanks again, very much looking forward to hearing from you! Warmly, Varia peeps

Date: Sunday 5th January 2025
Time: 07:00 - 23:59 CET
Location: Varia (Gouwstraat 3, Rotterdam)