Memories of tenderness. Popular childhoods and community utopias

Madrid

Memories of tenderness. Popular childhoods and community utopias is a research and creation project that, from queer and eco-social perspectives, seeks to recover the memory of the libertarian school Pequeñ@ Compañer@, which was based in the popular Ateneo de Villaverde, alongside the CNT Comarcal Sur, and was promoted by fellow trade unionists in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.

How did this seed of educational self-organization sprout in a Villaverde ravaged by the manufacturing crisis, the feminist struggle, the arrival of neoliberalism, and a flawed welfare state? How can we approach an episode of pedagogical and social experimentation with tenderness? What archive should be created and how should we relate to the materiality that remains? How can we bring little companion back to the present, activating its potential and recognizing its limitations?

Promoted by performing artist and educator Arturo Babel and Carlos Almela (hablarenarte), Memorias de la Ternura is developed in collaboration with Pedagogías Invisibles.

The project has forged links with CNT Comarcal Sur, which runs the Ateneo libertario, with the Anselmo Lorenzo Foundation, which holds numerous documents and archive images, and with the neighboring Bellas Calles space, dedicated to social architecture.

The project is structured around research, which will take the form of a podcast and a publication to be presented in 2026, as well as two public events in the fall of 2025.

PROJECT PHASES

January–July 2025

Research and recovery of the school's memory, based on existing documentation in the Anselmo Lorenzo Foundation archive, interviews with former teachers Lourdes Redondo and Juana Romero, and families who enrolled their children in the little school (Caridad Velasco and José Sánchez, parents of Arturo Babel), and a bibliographic contextualization regarding libertarian pedagogies, Villaverde in the 1990s, and the social struggles of the late 20th century.

October 2025

Public activation. Free camp De barro y duende: un jardín al que volver (Of Clay and Elves: A Garden to Return To), aimed at neighborhood children between the ages of 6 and 10, in which we will revisit some of the pedagogies and problems faced by Pequeñ@ Compañer@. From October 11 to 13. In collaboration with the Ateneo libertario de Villaverde/CNT Comarcal Sur, the neighborhood association La incolora and Bellas Calles.

Registration: Registration will be done by email, indicating the child's details, age, special needs, or any other information you wish to provide.

Registration email: info.memoriasdelaternura@gmail.com

November 2025

Public launch. Open Memory Days, aimed at artists, teachers, activists, and anyone interested in libertarian pedagogy and the legacy of Pequeñ@ Compañer@. The program for the event will be announced at a later date.

Memorias de la Ternura is supported by the Madrid City Council's Creation Grants.