Slaughter without fear!

Today I visited AL MATADERO SIN MIEDO - the programme of Debajo del Sombrero that runs every wednesday at MATADERO Madrid. As earlier described the workshop started in 2008 when the team behind Debajo del Sombrero together with a group of practitioners with disabilities and their supporters came and used the open space in the buildings which then were and still are in the process of reconstruction.  


Today the programme offers work spaces for around 20 participants with special needs. The activities are mainly concentrated on painting, drawing, construction, digital art and sound and movement. Essential for this programme is the collaboration with professional artists, the collaborators as they literally are called. They come from all cultural fields; music, dance, visual arts, theatre, design etc. These artists join the programme for minimum 1 month and work as volunteer supporters, facilitators and collaborators. At present there are 20 collaborators in the different workshops. I was curious how Debajo del Sombrero has been able to attract artists working on their own projects to come and work for free 1 day a week. I asked some of the artists and the common respond was that in the process of working together with people with disabilities they learned to look at art and their own projects in new ways. The straightforwardness and level of immersion they experience in the workshop at MATADERO has given them new perspectives on the practice of art in a way they would not be able to find anywhere else. Furthermore, the emerging and stimulating atmosphere at MATADERO is a great motivation for their participation. 


For me it was very inspiring to see how the practitioners with disabilities worked on their own projects supported by the collaborator's ideas and suggestions to materials. The different workshops made up a natural unity of creativity and diverse expressions in a way I have not experienced before. 

From the workshop SOUND & MOVEMENT: