Situated Museum: Three Names and a Network

Abstract

This article charts certain moments in the history of a complex relationship: an ongoing collaborative network that began developing in 2018 between various neighbourhood groups in Madrid, specifically in the areas of Lavapiés and the Museo Reina Sofía (Queen Sofía Museum). Taking the names of three individuals as our starting point—namely the migrants Mame Mbaye and Mohammed Hossein and the theologian and activist Pepa Torres—this paper examines specific moments and dimensions of this movement, which has critically interrogated what we conventionally expect from an art museum, redefining how it affects its immediate environment and the ways it occupies that space.