About us

Association Tinkers:

Nonprofit association for the demand of intercultural and inclusive activities. Vienna, Austria.

Founders:

Andrea Seewald & Matías Haber (Los Tinkers)

Austrian Andrea Seewald and Uruguayo Matías Haber have been working in the field of inclusion for over 10 years. Together they are the organizers of the renowned tango festival “Tango en Punta” – a festival that brings people with and without disabilities together. This creates space to question your own values and possibly redefine them. Commuting between the continents, the festival has already taken place for the 17th time. In Austria in the Festspielhaus Bregenz and in Uruguay in Punta del Este.

In addition to organizing the two festivals and the workshop series “Embracing Tango” through Europe and South America, they create their artistic productions, one of which is the IN-CONCERT – an inclusive production that embraces tango and what inclusion means. Here, for the first time in tango history, texts were written and songs composed on the subject of inclusion. The choreographies were also created especially for this piece in collaboration with professional dancers and people with disabilities. In Austria, the IN-Concert was premiered in the Festspielhaus Bregenz and in Uruguay in the prestigious Konzerthaus Sodre.

For their work in the field of inclusion, they have been recognized by the association “DSI Down Syndrome International” for their outstanding achievements in strengthening and enriching the lives of people with Down syndrome, and by the Ministry of Social Development in Uruguay. Both of them are regularly invited to congresses (“World Future Congress”, “Forum Kind”, Down Syndrome congresses, etc.) to pass on their experiences. In the meantime, “Los Tinkers” has also developed a method that is internationally recognized and used in different countries. In September 2017 her first book “The Tinkers System Finding Simplicity – the methodology behind the inclusive tango class” was published in English and in September 2019 it was published in German. This book serves as a manual for your seminar “The Tinkers System”, which is aimed specifically at educators, social workers, carers for people with disabilities, and tango teachers. However, it is also interesting for people who want to learn more about their system.

Now their plan is to merge their original projects with the creation of the Tinkers Center, which aims to create jobs for people with disabilities. For years the Tinkers have been working with the roastery + the future cafeteria itself.

In addition, this year Andrea and Matías completed their coffee roasting training at Probat in Northern Germany.

Researcher/ In charge of Tinkers-Inclusion-Methode: Alina Cibea
Production/ In charge of EU-Projects: Marie Tappero

Production/ In charge of Uruguay: Tamara Pereyra
Scripts & texts from IN-CONCERT: Tamara Pereyra/Siul Bango
Communication-strategy: Suroeste Comunicaciones
Web and graphic design: Fernando Muniz / Converge

Photo-exhibitions:

Ishka Michocka: PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS
Photos: Valentina Minette / Marcelo Di Rienzo / Ishka Michocka /
Video, Documentary:
Docu: NECTARIA FILMS & ARTS Juan Gonnet & Valentina Minette
Videos: Juan Gonnet /Juan David Marin/ Alberto Carboni/Mariana Viñoles/ Sebastián Cabrera / Jonas Zadow / Duddie Mancini / Philip Fricker/ Maya Humo

Press: Austria: Andrea Fritz-Pinggera, Pzwei.
Argentina: Marta del Pino, Karina Nisinman
Uruguay: Silvina Natale.

“The Association Tinkers proposes activities of social inclusion through tango for persons with and without disabilities in Europe and Latin America. For us, the essence of tango is the embrace. It allows the partners to connect and find each other in the rhythm of the music. This makes tango a unique and very powerful tool for inclusion. It enables people of different abilities, cultures, ages, and social backgrounds to meet and interact on a personal level, in a space where there is no right or wrong. This is our contribution to creating solidarity in society, at a time when this is most needed.“