International partners
Repair Acts
Repair Acts is the mothership entity through which TALES OF CARE AND REPAIR was imagined. An international and multidisciplinary network of people working on topics relating to repair, care maintenance and healing cultures.
Viewing the care and maintenance of objects as a challenge to move away from the rhetorics of the ‘new’ as a means of progression and innovation. Repair Acts looks towards how we attend, nourish and care for the everyday, with a focus on the disconnect and the discarded, what is in ruin and broken as a means through which to reimagine what we define as growth. Established in 2018 the programme is based at the University of the West of England.
Gambiologia
Gambiologia is a Brazilian creative hub which adopts the country’s tradition of “gambiarra” as a source of inspiration for works on art and technology.
Gambiologia’s activities transit between a platform for invention, a hackerspace and an art production company, with three main focuses of work: production (exhibitions, publications), education (workshops, methodologies, DIY) and innovation (talks, consulting and product development).
Toxics Link
Toxics Link is an environmental NGO, dedicated to bring toxics-related information into the public domain, both relating to struggles and problems at the grassroots level as well as global information to the local level.
Toxics Link has unique expertise in the areas of hazardous, medical and municipal waste, as well as in specific issues such as the international waste trade, the emerging issues of pesticides and POPs and e-waste. We are based in Delhi with a Project office in Goa and we have a nationwide network of more than 5000 members.
Local teams
Teresa Dillon
Teresa is an artist and researcher and the project lead for TALES OF CARE AND REPAIR. In 2018 she co-founded Repair Acts – a practice-based research programme that explores repair cultures and practices in a pluralistic and collective manner. Since 2013 she has also directed Urban Hosts – a programme that explores alternative urban futures. She is a member of the spatial collective Soft Agency. Her work has been published in various contexts and she has participated in numerous exhibitions, art residencies, conferences and seminar programmes. A Humboldt Fellow, Teresa currently holds the post of Professor of City Futures at the School of Art and Design, UWE Bristol, which is also the home base for Repair Acts.
Ravi Agarwal
Ravi Agarwal is the founder-director of the environmental NGO Toxics Link, which has pioneered work on waste and chemicals for the past three decades. Toxics Link has played a pioneering role in issues relating to environmental health at various levels, including helping formulate policies and regulations for bio medical waste, municipal solid waste, electronic and electrical waste, hazardous waste, chemicals in products, and POPs; and to establish several best practice models on the ground. Agarwal is an artist, writer, and curator. He has authored and edited articles, books and journals and was awarded the UN Award for Chemical Safety (2008) and the Ashoka Fellowship (1997). He lives in New Delhi and is an engineer and MBA by training.
Fred Paulino
Fred is a Brazilian artist, designer, researcher and curator. He holds a bachelor in Computer Science from UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) and postgraduate studies in Contemporary Art at UEMG (State University of Minas Gerais / Guignard School). He is the catalyst of the referential Gambiologia project, which since 2008 investigates art and technology in dialogue with education and popular culture, especially around the themes of improvisation and reuse. His works have been shown in many countries such as USA, Austria, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, South Africa and Japan. He is the editor-in-chief of Facta Magazine and curated three editions of “Gambiologos” exhibitions. He has been the coordinator of independent education programs such as Favela Hacklab.
Satish Sinha
Satish is the Associate Director of Toxics Link, a leading environmental group working on issues of waste and chemicals and an India Air Force veteran. For over two decades he has been an active campaigner and advocate for sustainable development. Under Satish’s leadership, Toxics Link has made a significant contribution towards shaping the current municipal E-waste rules for India, with his work impacting extensively on changing the landscape of mercury management in India and the region. Satish holds a visiting faculty position at and is a prominent speaker on discourses relating to circular economy and the Right to Repair in India.
Dawn Giles
Dawn Giles supports the production of TALES OF CARE AND REPAIR on the UK side. Originally studying Fine Art and Painting and photography, Dawn has over twenty years experience as an art curator, producer and manager. Relocating to Bristol in 2016, Dawn has returned to her arts roots, working as maker and mender using techniques from drawing, print and textiles. Embracing the delights of pattern making, repetition, and decoration her work explores and make connections between art, craft and ideas of labour and leisure.
Romana Abreu
Romana Abreu is a cultural producer, one of the co-heads of MASTERp la n o collective and co-founder and curator of the podcast A-MIG, a nomadic platform that broadcasts mixtapes and sound experiments of emerging artists from Brazil and around the world. She also heads projects that seek to share the knowledge and challenges related to the independent cultural production in Belo Horizonte.
Sahil Gochhayat
Sahil is the Programme Officer for Toxics Links and is passionate about the field of urban ecology. Concerned about the rate of human development and its impact on the environment, Sahil views collective effort, education and awareness as crucial in changing mindsets and behaviours, so that all species can enjoy a better future. A keen nature photographer and editor outside of his work at Toxics Link, Sahil enjoys tending to plants and nature treks. Sahil holds a MA in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development from The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Guwahati and a BA in English Literature from Delhi University.
Felipe Schmidt Fonseca
Felipe is a Brazilian activist and free/open advocate turned researcher living in Berlin, Germany. He is currently completing his PhD candidate at the OpenDoTT project (Northumbria University / Mozilla Foundation), where is work focuses on waste prevention and smart cities. Felipe holds an MA in Scientific and Cultural Diffusion from Labjor/Unicamp.