Medialab madrid 2002-2006 participatory culture and social activism in Madrid

Abstract

Citizen participation is a crucial element to contemporary society at the start of the 21st century. In the artistic field this has been translated into generating new artistic forms of social action and citizen participation. This reality is best reflected in the emergence of centers where “society” is added to art, science and technology dialogue, such as the pioneering MediaLab Madrid center inaugurated in 2002 as a paradigm of action, participatory culture and social integration. This article formalizes a historical tour of how this center and emblematic project was created. It then analyzes the center’s purpose as a place to accommodate emerging forms of participation and social transformation in relation to its program of exhibitions, workshops, seminars and symposia, conferences, meetings and actions during the 2002-2006 period when it was led by its creators, Karin Ohlenschläger and Luis Rico. The program reveals an innovative methodology of artistic proposals and spaces for artistic reflection and dialogue with technology as a tool for social activism and transformation. This study is based on interviews with the actors who devised this project, as well as internationally renowned researchers and artists, who provide an external view of the center’s impact.