Archivo de la delicadeza. Objeto y memoria en la escena in situ

New to this year’s Festival de Otoño is the collaboration with Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas (MNAD), a place with more than 100 years of history that holds a legacy of more than 80,000 objects. For three months prior to the Festival, the El Solar Object Detective Agency, made up of Shaday Larios and Jomi Oligor, completed a residency at the museum with its staff. During the Festival, there will be an exhibition of research findings and a discussion about the Archivo de la delicadeza journey. Attendees may attend the event at the museum and engage in active discussion.

This meeting, taking place on 25 November at Teatros del Canal, has the slogan "Objeto y memoria en la escena in situ". It is the ideal time for the book presentation, which was inspired by this experience; the book was edited by La uÑa RoTa.

About Archivo de la delicadeza

Archivo de la delicadeza is a written work that combines poetry, theatre, and ethnography. It was developed during a three-month residency at the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas (MNAD) with its employees and the vast collection of over 80,000 artefacts. In May 2023, the Madrid Festival de Otoño asked El Solar Object Detectives to carry out detection work on site. Our task was to investigate the environment of Detectives de Objetos, a documentary object theatre in si tu. We were object detectives investigating other object detectives, and this report presents the socio-material revelations that came from our work. These texts form part of our stage production, which has the same name, at this year's Festival. The text is based on written versions of what people said or experienced during the research, along with some imaginative ideas.

Archivo de la delicadeza is a store for human and non-human behaviours, feelings, experiences, recollections, aspirations, and idiosyncrasies that are linked to the MNAD museum exhibits. These objects have a unique existence, unlike any others in the world. Small, often unnoticed incidents that don't typically fit into the bureaucratic structures of a heritage site. When the far-off tale trails off in the distance, a nearby spot may provide a nice end point to the story’s journey. Perceptions that create a subtle approach to politics, where patrimony becomes porous and fluid, associating itself temporarily with the lives of those who care for it or donors’ personal stories.

We express our gratitude to the Festival and all the museum staff for inviting us to this residency, and to the employees for teaching us a priceless lesson on the influence of objects and material culture.