Abstract
Museo Situado is an assembly of individuals and collectives of the Lavapiés neighborhood held under the umbrella of the Public Activities Department of Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. Starting in 2018, it has promoted and supported community engaged projects in Lavapiés, as well as channeled collaborative programs between neighbors, social movements, artists, and the Museum. Its activity increased exponentially during the coronavirus confinement in spring 2020, precisely when most of the standard functions of the Museum were suspended. Meetings became more frequent, two or three a month, and dynamics more agile and effective, as if the participants had intuitively learnt how to operate the hybrid machinery of Museo Situado in an emergency situation. It rapidly took its part in the tide of solidarity which was rising in the neighborhood. The proportion of the Museum staff participating in the Museo situado assembly increased rapidly. The fact that many of them were precarious workers or unpaid interns, and some were already engaged in different forms of activism, became visible, providing a new perception of what the institution is made of: people with whom to share needs and demands, but also knowledge and projects. Taking as a starting point the work of Museo Situado during the Covid Pandemia, this study discusses the contradictions and dilemmas of the new paradigm of “caring institution” within a “caring city.”
Presenters
Jesús María CarrilloLecturer, History and Theory of Art Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus: What Museums Post Pandemic?
KEYWORDS
CARING MUSEUM, CARING CITY, NEIGHBORS ASSEMBLY
