Hi everyone,
I'd like to share some news about recent developments in Madrid that might lead to the disappearance of Medialab-Prado in less than a week.
By the end of January, Marcos García, former director of the center announced he would not be renewed on his position. This sparked some alarms about the future of the program.
Two weeks ago, national newspaper ElMundo announced that Medialab-Prado would leave their current building in autumn and be integrated into Matadero (another local center). Medialab-Prado program would be replaced by a contemporary art gallery and cultural industries hub, without any trace of free culture, citizen participation or new media.
A community led effort called
WeAreTheLab raised alarms about this movement, given there is no free space at Matadero (nor public plans to accommodate any area for Medialab-Prado). So this looks like they are trying to dismount Medialab-Prado by removing the material infrastructure, removing any budget and leaving it orphaned. Most people see this as an intermediate step before destroying it.
Matadero has announced it will be removing the international residences program, substituting it is an immersive experience center, consisting of multi projector installations with 10 EUR fee per person.Right now, it seems like Madrid is moving to a model of "Culture is for those that can afford it (with special focus on tourists instead of citizens)".
Today, we have discovered that all workers at Medialab are supposed to move by next Monday. No Autumm or future date whatsoever. Next Monday.
- What is supposed to happen with the current building? No public project or information about it.
- When asked about the current citizen projects? Everyone is supposed to pack and remove everything before next Monday. There is no space at Matadero for project materials whatsoever.
- What about international residencies and open projects? No idea, everyone must leave by the end of this week.
Medialab-Prado will effectively close this week at all effects until further notice.
So far the conversation on how to save the lab has happened mostly in Spanish, from communities close to the Medialab-Prado. Several people have expressed their support using Twitter under the hashtag #savethelab / #wearethelab.
Any kind of support, idea, plan, alternative would be welcome!
Best,
César