– – “full night” – the best internet cafe in romania – –
link to the full interview > here <
during the 90’s, western pc’s slowly became accessible to the romanian population. while most people did not have the necessary resources for buying one, they certainly had enough pocket change to rent one for a few hours. these places who would offer computers to rent, later called internet cafes, became meeting points for the youth, developing a distinct community and subculture. after two decades, this trend has continued to survive and evolve in a very particular, unique way in the city of iași.
visual artists radu-mihai tănasă and ruxandra mărgineanu (under ap.6) aim to reconstruct the history and attempt to better understand the phenomena, as they have experienced it as avid visitors and long-time members of the subculture. the project analyzes the impact of technology on culture and young people in iași, romania, with an emphasis on the emergence of internet cafes and the development of a distinct subculture related to these spaces.
link to the inc longofrm that goes into more detail:
https://networkcultures.org/longform/2024/06/21/starnet
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