Contemporary art museums are spaces which create subjectivities and amplify narratives. They are places for the sublime, but also are catalyzers of the present moment. They should be places which interrogate society and places which in turn are affected by their relationship with society. Contemporary art museums should be places where the commitment to contemporaneity conditions the implementation of new procedures in which discourse becomes the cornerstone of art.

#SALÓN DO MARCO is conceived as a place which is familiar and recognizable to society, as a living room for gathering around a table or sitting on a sofa to talk about current events. This ‘place for being’ is a project for collective mediation, experimentation, and research which will provide momentum for launching new learning communities. Mediation is not considered here as a process for explanation of what is taking place in society, but instead as a device for intertwining networks and connections.

Opening a lounge at MARCO provides a new infrastructure in the museum with the intention of experiencing a different type of interface which defends the capability of the citizens themselves to build and develop communal projects. Through a variety of mechanisms the citizens are called upon to appropriate the #SALÓN DO MARCO — new modes for research, discussion, seminars, the construction of the space itself, and the launch of learning communities are some of the interventions to be undertaken.

This process begins with the construction of the lounge itself: #Hacer Espacio [Making Place] includes a pre-enrollment open workshop coordinated by collective Tecnoloxías Apropiadas — Alejandro F. Palicio — consisting of the construction of a space suitable for the lounge’s different uses.

The following activity is the launch of the learning community #Clínica Colectiva de Proyectos [Collective Clinic of Projects] which will function as a consulting collective. Next, the collective Alg-a Lab, a prominent reference for independent contemporary creation in Galicia, will develop the workshop #Taller sobre fabricación digital [Digital Production Workshop].

Throughout the summer the experimental research #Vigo Rebelde, el Metal en lucha [Rebel Vigo, the Metalworkers Struggle] will become one of the key devices for claiming the rights of citizens through the establishment of social movements. The project led by the collective Niquelarte, seeks to draw attention to the present situation in the metal industry. It will be coordinated by researcher Adela Vázquez.

Contemporary thought will be present through the seminar #Seminario Comunes y Cultura [Commons and Culture Seminar] organised by collective Proxecto Derriba who define themselves as a “leaderless community because it is constituted by a group of people sharing a sense of non-pertinence, because their work is the negation of work”.

Pablo Andrade and Rita Caoba will contribute with #Pan de Cona, a performative conversation. All these actions will be accompanied by a #Curadoría de la Escucha [Listening Curatorship], and the #Documentación en Código Abierto [Open Source Documentation] available at https://salondomarco.tumblr.com/