Home-brewed in Hobart in 2008 by Nancy Mauro-Flude, Miss Despoinas was formed as a research salon, a curatorial premise, a autonomous web server to host projects, a mail list for dicussion and a hackspace aimed at removing the strict barriers between software users and developers to enable the “uninitiated” artist into using free software.

Miss Despoinas cultivates artists who want to open up both standard devices and the situations in which they are encountered. Miss Despoinas hosts digital literacy circles, and stretches networks for the production and dissemination of experiential events, in public and private spaces – garages, galleries, online, in publications, on radio and anywhere else that suits their purpose. Against the current of disposable technology and estranged digital devices, critical making brings together individuals working at the intersection of critical thinking and hands-on practice.