New media art from the south. From 1992 to 1996, the transmediale spotlighted noteworthy discoveries made in the southern hemisphere. Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Cuba particularly stood out as coun­ tries where remarkable videos were being produced.
In the course of a tour made in 1999 through the ‘North Hispano’ region (encompassing Bolivia, Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela and, once again, Peru), it became that a significant change had occurred, namely the new-found availability of technology, tools and com­municative patterns.
The North-South divide was extreme in the early 1990s. Even respected universities could offer only one VHS editing system to serve 500 students enrolled the media faculty.
In 1999, the situation has changed. With computers now a matter of course, universities also possess Beta equipment. In Mexico City, naturally, one will find more hi-tech equip­ment than in the meanwhile impoverished Caracas. Yet even the higher education insti­tutions of Bogota in Columbia, the poorest of the Latin American countries, are remarka­bly well-equipped.
A Latin-American video boom is now underway in the northern states. By now, however, there is one important difference: video is merely one medium in a multimedia landsca­pe. And it is much easier to gain access to the more recent components - CD-ROM and the Internet - than it is to get hold of video equipment.
Many students have a computer at home complete with Internet access. INTERNET- a first-ever means of hooking up to the world, technically and intellectually. The tools for multimedia are ubiquitous, luxury versions have to be purchased or pirated, the basic versions are available as freeware. More than mere implements, the tools and their uti­lization are the subject of cross-frontier communications. Communicative patterns are becoming global, both in respect to artistic forms and to the design of links, levels, and so forth.
Windows onto the world are opening up. This may sound trite to inhabitants of the nor­thern hemisphere, but less so to people living in the Bolivians highlands who, after deca­des of being denied the opportunity of viewing international video art, suddenly find themselves able to participate in multimedia art as recipients and producers