T[h]inkering Thursday

The Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, in collaboration with Thoughts and Bolts and cultural mediation and -management curator Laura Cardio, is pleased to announce a series of monthly sessions focusing on sustainable practices.

The virtual sessions, which are intended to serve as platforms for the exchange of thoughts and ideas as well as concrete actions on sustainability, will take place on the first Thursday of every month. Experts from South Asia and Germany will be invited to share their insights and expertise on sustainable lifestyles, with each session focusing on a specific aspect of the topic. Throughout the series of events, our host Gaurav Juyal will meet people who are committed to truly sustainable policies and activities. Together with them, he will facilitate discussions on the topic and find ideas and answers to existing practices. Gathering tips and tricks on how each and every one of us can make conscious choices in our daily lives that will not only have a positive impact on our society, but also on the future of our planet.

The first episode of T[h]inkering Thursday is about the culture of repair. We all know that in a fast-paced world we are constantly tempted to own something new. In this episode, we will therefore focus on how we can keep items in working order for longer. Repairing not only teaches us how to preserve items, but it also stimulates discussion about our relationship with possessions and creates a culture of knowledge sharing and social interaction. With this in mind, our moderator Gaurav Juyal will come together with Ina Hemmelmann from anstiftung to gain a deeper insight into the culture of repairing. The foundation anstiftung promotes, connects and researches spaces and networks of do-it-yourself. This includes intercultural and urban gardens, open workshops, repair initiatives, open source projects as well as initiatives to revitalise neighbourhoods or interventions in public spaces. The motto is: We do it because we believe that DIY empowers people to take their lives into their own hands and creatively resonate with the world.

Ina Hemmelmann has been a research associate at the anstiftung since October 2015 and coordinates the Netzwerk Reparatur-Initiativen. She studied literature and theatre studies in Munich, worked as a puppeteer and co-founded a DIY collective that dealt with gender norms, crafts and the design of public space. She is currently involved in an open textile workshop where she teaches people how to sew or upcycle garments.

This programme will be live-streamed on the Goethe-Institut Facebook page at 6 pm.