ČIPke Initiative for Women with a Sense for Technology, Science and Art is an initiative for women working in technology, science and art. Saša Spačal and Ida Hiršenfelder conceived it from the need to create an open, free space for women who want to learn technical skills. The initiative is researching the conditions for women who are active in the context of science, technology and media art. The goal is to open a space for conversation about women working in these fields and to organise practical educational programmes, including various workshops on electronics, robotics, open-source programming, and the usage of open-source programs for graphical design, video editing, sound synthesis to give women a fair chance to learn how to use these tools. Too often, women are ignored, overcoded, or pushed aside, even in environments which promote free and open-source software and hardware. Starting in the autumn of 2013, we organised several women-only workshops. ČIPke home base is Rampa Labu at Kersnikovi 4, Ljubljana. The programme is supported by Ljubljana City Municipality and the Ministry of Culture. We need to draw public funding to secure admission-free participation and common sharing of knowledge.
* Č I P k e
1. čipke plur. n.: laces: a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern.
2. čip n. electronics: chip: an electronic component processed to have specified electrical characteristics in an integrated circuit.
3. čipke plur. n.: laces: a plural abbreviation of the name of mathematician Ada Lovelace, who created the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine.