The Meshiverse OR The Revolution of the Little Radios

In an era where our identities and rights are increasingly mediated by devices we call “phones”, the boundaries between digital citizenship and corporate feudalism are blurring. This talk explores the intersection of technology, autonomy, and community within the unique context of transformational festivals, temporary autonomous zones (TAZs) (or future isolated neightborhoods and local communities?) where experimentation and reappropriation of tools take center stage.

Starting from a cyberpunk reflection — high tech, low life — the talk questions how much of that dystopian vision has already become reality: from algorithmic control to the loss of privacy and digital dependency. Drawing on the legacy of radio as an anarchic medium and the new rise of mesh networks such as Meshtastic/Meshcore/Reticulum, The Things Network, and Helium, Davide Gomba connects past and future: from Marconi lighting up the Cristo Redentor in 1931 to today’s decentralized communication protocols.

Through examples from Lutopia’s “Ozorian Experiment” (2024) and the ongoing Burning Mesh initiative, the talk presents how off-grid communication can become both a poetic and political act - reclaiming connection, rebuilding resilience, and teaching new forms of digital literacy. Between cyberpunk dystopia and techno-anarchic optimism, “The Meshiverse OR The Revolution of the Little Radios” is a manifesto for the right to communicate freely - even, and especially, when the network goes dark.