Conect@

Conect@ is a collaborative project between the Reina Sofía Museum and the Centro Ocupacional Municipal Carlos Castilla del Pino de Alcorcón (the Carlos Castilla del Pino County Occupational Centre in Alcorcón) which researches new ways towards social inclusion for adults with learning disabilities. The group consists of Museum educators, ten users of the Occupational Centre and three of its professionals (a psychologist, and social worker and an employment consultant). Madrid’s Autonomous University participated in the project during research into assessment methods, which was carried out during the first year of the group’s existence.

Conect@’s objectives go beyond simply helping people with learning disabilities to gain access to culture, because the project’s aim is to create active roles and critical attitudes that promote the exercise of citizenship among the participants. The idea is to place people with disabilities in a position where they can contribute and be useful, thereby helping to make society more aware and inspiring any or all individuals, collective and institutions.

One of the central concepts of the programme in its initial stage was immersion in the museum through fieldwork covering elements such as orientation, the relationship with Museum workers and critical assessment of the ‘museum-space’, with particular attention paid to problems of access. The group also came into contact with contemporary artistic languages and the documentary and emotionally communicative use of photographic and video recordings. Finally, a blog was started for the group to put together, explain and communicate to the general public the whole project experience.

The second stage saw attempts made to ensure that the skills acquired could be applied beyond the known contexts, creating new interchanges with other human groups. It also included the introduction of the concept of creativity as a new working tool to enable the articulation of ideas and individual sensations.

In its third stage, the Conect@ group has been concentrating on drawing conclusions and raising awareness of the project. To this end, it has made a short film and is compiling a publication that gathers together a wide range of opinions in writing, explaining the group’s input from a plural and self-critical point of view.