Intervista a Rosina Gómez-Baeza , direttrice di LABoral – Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial

The first impression you feel reading the description of LABoral- Art and Industrial Creation Centre is that it is a space where art is explored at 360 degrees, in which the key words that best describe the activities are “multidisciplinary” and “interdisciplinary”. Which is the aim/mission inspiring your artistic project and the objectives you want to achieve?
LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial was created in 2007 as an interdisciplinary space intended to foster artistic exchange and promote relations between society, art, science, technology and industrial creation. It is, further, a centre for research, training and artistic and technical production, as well as for the public exhibition of new forms of art and industrial creation. The project arose as a response to the need in Spain for a space dedicated to artistic experimentation and, at the same time, involved in the development of emerging activity by those creators that explore their expressive concepts through the use of new tools offered by current Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
We think that innovation is fundamental in order to respond effectively to the challenges of globalisation and the opportunities that it provides. The capacity for innovation is closely tied to creativity, like a personal attribute based in talent and cultural and interpersonal values. In order to take maximum advantage of it, it must be disseminated amongst the population.
The activity programme of LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial is a faithful reflection of the spectacular changes experienced by society and its immersion in today’s visual culture.
We have five areas of activity:
Exhibition: LABoral’s exhibition programme aspires to become a local, national and international reference for its investigation into innovative formats and languages that reflect the emergence of contemporary artistic production.
Education: This area hopes to make up for currently existing deficiencies – in relation to the use of new technological media – in schools, universities and professional training fields, stimulating, at the same time, participation on behalf of the citizenry and amateur enthusiasts.
Research:  The CREATIC Laboratory, through scholarships for young researchers in the ICT field and making available advanced research infrastructure.
Creation-Production: A Multimedia Workshop, Platform 0, that acts in two areas, producing works of an artistic character and high quality productions in the field of visual industries.
Public Programme: In harmony with the rest of its project, LABoral is dedicated to the cultural dissemination of new artistic practices and Creative industries, produced principally with or by means of technological media.

The history of the Centre started a long time ago, around the ‘40s, when it was conceived as a Miners’ Orphanage, subsequently converted. What are the relevant historical processes which let the Centre grows and becomes the international reference for art, science and new technologies?
The history of the architectural complex began in 1945 with the establishment of a Miners’ Orphanage, to house the children of labourers who had been killed in accidents at work. The project was carried out by Luis Moya and his architectural team. Construction began in 1948 and continued for several years until it was stopped in 1957, due to the sudden resignation of the Labour Minister, José Antonio Girón, the driving force behind the emergence of vocational universities in Spain. The architectural complex would eventually become La Universidad Laboral.
In the 1980s, the Universidad Laboral became part of the National Institute for Integrated Education and a large portion of its facilities were no longer used. It fell into disrepair, suffering the inevitable consequence of neglect.
In 2001, the Government of the Principality of Asturias assumed management of the building. It began by drafting an ambitious Use Plan, to breathe new life into Moya’s ideal but underutilised city. By the 21st century, it had become what it always was: a magnificent and unique expression of pure architectural values.
The former Universidad Laboral is reborn in the 21st century, converted into La Ciudad de la Cultura, a creative community in which more than 4,000 people study, carry out research, create and communicate with each other – all on a daily basis. It was decided that the renovation should transform this highly complex space, consolidating its extant training activities and providing it with new, complementary applications.
Then, another idea arose: to take Moya’s ideal city and superimpose the idea of a new kind of city on top of it, a 21st century centre of cultural and creative production, with spaces for learning and teaching; to see, hear and consume cultural products; to share networks, exchange knowledge and communicate ideas.
The workshops located furthest northeast and the old pelota ball court (frontón) were chosen to house the LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial project.

Let’s talk about the Foundation, the governing body behind the Centre. If we look at the structure, it emerges a wide participation of the local authorities, represented in the Board of Patrons (members of Principality of Asturias, of the Ministry of Culture and of the City Hall, for example). Which kind of relationship do you have with the public sector and how much are they relevant in determining your activities in order to establish an innovative image for the Principality of Asturias?
La Fundación La Laboral was created by the Government of the Principality of Asturias with the aim of strengthening the domain of technological culture as part of its strategy to design alternative models for the future of Asturias and to continue advancing the development of the Knowledge Society. The determination of the Government of the Principality of Asturias to endow the region with such an innovative Centre has been matched by the enthusiasm and support of a large number of public and private enterprises that have joined LABoral’s Board of Patrons. These contributions and permanent networking – the driving forces behind each and every one of the programmes organised by LABoral – have enabled many joint projects with other art centres, museums as well as public and private institutions since its inauguration on March 30th, 2007. In fact, it is a constant in the past and future trajectory of our Centre.

Concerning with the resources sustaining your projects, we read that “The refurbishment of the 14338 square metres of functional space for the centre required an investment in excess of 11 millions of euros ”. Which are the most important sources of funding and which type of relationship do you have with the private sector, considering  Asturia’s industrial tradition?
Our budget is financed with the contribution of the enterprises and institutions included in The Board of Patrons, which is the supreme governing body, representing and administering la Fundación, executing the functions that correspond to it, subjected to the present Statues and current legal ordinance.
LABoral fosters fruitful relationships with people and organisations that aid in the development of a society that patently dedicates its time to creation and innovation. So that, we have established agreements with public and private organisations – such as cultural, academic and social organisations – that favour the exchange of experiences and knowledge. Organisational networks will be fostered, facilitating and contributing to the establishment of professional relationships and the promotion of teamwork.

Inside the programmatic axes, new technologies and media represent a relevant area, determining also a great amount of activities concerned with research and creative production. Which are the future objectives of the Centre in encouraging the creative use of new technological tools and which kind of projects are you now working on?
We are now working on contributing to the development of innovative projects by carrying out our mandate, developing projects associated with new languages, narratives and technologies that are open to social, artistic and industrial applications.
LABoral posits itself as a key component in the strategy to fully incorporate Asturias into the Information and Innovation Society, understanding this to be the only means to achieve an improvement in the quality of life of its citizens in order to transform our society into a more cultured and better educated one.

Do you believe that cultural asset  will be capable of generating economic growth?
LABoral wants to contribute to the development of innovative projects by carrying out its mandate, and to develop projects associated with new languages, narratives and technologies that are open to possible social, artistic and industrial applications. LABoral’s activity aims to contribute to the development of the information society, encouraging the creative use of new technological tools.
I think that Art and Culture play a key role in the social consolidation of technological advances and social change. The vitality of artistic creation today, the incorporation of new spaces of different kinds, the irruption of new technological tools used widely by artists, the notion of “process,” a new concept of time, multi- trans- and inter-disciplinary work, the variety of projects that attract young audiences to this new and complex reality: all this forces us to wonder whether we are facing a new definition of art and the function of the artist in society, a mutation that allows us to discern aesthetic, social and even ethical motivations different from those of just one decade ago. It is here that LABoral’s research is centred.
The Art Centre aspire to encourage artistic and other forms of creativity during the various levels of education and afterwards in adult life, because we firmly believe that cultural diversity is a source of creativity and innovation. If we help to make the process of innovation truly understandable, we will be promoting more enterprising attitudes that will allow us to achieve prosperity.

Approfondimenti:
www.laboralcentrodearte.org