NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN LATINX

Topics Studio: Sin Nombre
Fall 2020
Location: Washington D.C. The Mall
Prof. Georgina Huljich + Partner Nate Waddell

This new proposal for a National Museum of the American Latinx (NMAL) is a re-imagining of the traditional typology of the museum. Rather than an insular, untouchable culture exhibit, NMAL embraces the existing heterogeneity of the Latinx community by fragmenting the museum-visitor interaction throughout a public compound.

The NMAL is defined by a manifesto of 5 ideals:

1. Presence is to belong without concern for the establishment.
2. Encouragement of heterogeneous community occupation via an activated ground.
3. Curatorial Strategies that are not limited to history or artistry but are dynamic platforms for embracing public education.
4. Materiality that reflects the dichotomy between the existing structures on the National Mall and the reality of Latinx history.
5. Symbols and Metaphors have no place in a new expression of acceptance and accessibility.

Through this conceptual framework the museum becomes a fundamental component of navigating the national mall. Rather than following the precedent of the tokenistic inclusion of Latin Americans in (the) American texts and being set to the sidelines by history’s writers, the museum engages visitors right from the subway exit and across the entire site, hosting cultural experiences along the way for past arts and - importantly - future protest. Unapologetically making edits where it sees fit, NMAL demands both recognition of the Latinx community and its inclusion in the American public.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN LATINX

Morgan Jacobs