Museum and Territory: local residents give their opinion 10 years after the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona – MCNB) first moved into the Parc del Fòrum space: “We never thought there would be a museum here, so for us it was a very nice surprise to see that things were being done in the neighbourhood”, says Dori Escobar, who lives in the area and is a member of the Ambar Prim Women’s Association. Escobar is one of the 10 voices participating in a video entitled Museum and Territory, which premieres on Friday, 18 June at 6 p.m. on the Museum’s YouTube channel, where residents of the local neighbourhoods explain what the arrival of the Museum to the Fòrum has meant to them. Along with Escobar, other participants in the video include members of organizations such as the El Besòs and Maresme Residents’ Association, the Besòs Youth Assembly, the Institut-escola de la Mina, and neighbours like 8-year-old Laura, an absolute fan of the Museum. This video is the fourth surprise of 10 that the Museum has prepared and will unveil month by month, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its opening at the Parc del Fòrum location.
On 27 March 2011, the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona opened a new headquarters at the Parc del Fòrum, the first major public cultural facility to be located in the neighbourhood of Sant Martí and, indeed, in the district of El Besòs and Maresme. From the very first day, the Museum opened its doors to the local residents with the aim of allowing them to make the facility their own, not only as a museum but also as a public space available to the people for different activities. Over this past decade, the Museum has developed several outstanding local projects in conjunction with entities and schools in the district, including: La Nit dels Museus (“Night of the Museums”), the Consell d’Infants (“Children’s Council”), and the educational project Connectem amb… (“Let’s Connect with…”):
- Night of the Museums, km0 Culture: for one night, the Museum’s premises become a space for creation and celebration, where local artistic and cultural collectives are the protagonists and premiere their shows.
- Children’s Council: made up of 16 fifth- and sixth-year primary school children from two schools in the district, this is a real participatory body that allows the local children to voice their opinions, ideas and suggestions related to the Museum’s activities, programming and facilities.
- Let’s Connect with…: an ongoing programme of collaboration with schools in the district whereby, based on a temporary exhibition at the Museum, pupils work on a project of discovery of the neighbourhood.
Directed by Dídac Roger i Homs of Kineina audiovisuals
See the video here: