Welcome to Madrid

Located in a unique cultural space, Matadero Madrid, Medialab Matadero is an institutional platform for experimental research, creation and production driven by the Commons dynamic. It is a space that fosters community participation and citizen engagement through tools and the talent of artists, critical thinkers, designers and scientists, and between different disciplines, institutions, organisations and industries.

Medialab has been set up as a citizens’ laboratory for the production, research and dissemination of cultural projects that explore methods of collaborative experimentation and learning that have arisen through digital networks, in which culture is understood as a social instrument that can transform the world for the common good provided that it is well-oriented.

Its mission revolves around three aspects:

• Foster the production, research and dissemination of cultural projects through collaboration, exploring forms of experimentation and digital innovation in the field of culture.

• Launch projects in the intersection between art, design, science and technology that contribute to creatively addressing the major contemporary challenges related to the city and global challenges within the framework of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.  Be a platform for digital artistic creation and new media.

• Develop a programme for critical reflection from which to follow the digital  revolution on all levels and its impact on society, promoting cultural projects that contribute towards a better digital future.

Its activity, curated by Eduardo Castillo Vinuesa, focuses on 8 transversal lines of research: New Dynamics, Sentient Media, Hybrid Ecosystems, Intelligent Semiotics, Micro-Macro Tectonics, Disruptive Tools, Tangible Cybernetics, Event Horizon.

These themed lines will be developed through LAB(s), made up of workshops, critical seminars, artistic projects and a prototype laboratory, where priority is given to collaborative research and production for periods of 3 months, designed to materialise and activate collective intelligence in relation to specific themes. Through them, the aim is to address emerging citizen challenges, providing citizens with the tools and collective intelligence to jointly design a roadmap for the future.

Each LAB will terminate with a major OpenLAB event, where the activities carried out will be made visible to a broader audience.

Its activity takes place in different spaces at Matadero Madrid, mainly at Nave 17 and El Taller.