Rodrigo Araújo

Office Coordinator

Rodrigo Araújo (he/him) is Tonic’s Office Coordinator.
Outside Tonic, he works mainly across music, writing and performance, and often collaborates in film and theatre projects in various capacities. He did a Master of Letters in Art Writing at the Glasgow School of Art, and a BA in Art History at Nova FCSH. Rodrigo has been making music under the moniker Vaiapraia since 2013. In a review, The Wire magazine described his band as “Portugal’s beloved queer DIY bedroom punks” and he thought that’s quite funny and not untrue. His writing (story, poetry, essay and a hybrid of these) has been featured in MAP Magazine, Nothing Personal, Market Gallery, Batalha Centro de Cinema, amongst others, as well as in his own self-published zines, of course! Rodrigo is also a co-founder of Lisbon-based Maternidade, a cultural association and Rama Em Flor, a queer feminist festival.

What does your role at Tonic involve?

I’m in charge of a plethora of admin tasks, such as following up on any external enquiries we receive; project management of our training and consultancy commitments; liaising with Tonic’s board and associates; organizing our team’s calendars and travel, amongst other things.
Here to help!

What’s your favourite thing about working at Tonic?

1) To be able to have a close look into the wide and exciting research undertaken by our Director and Delivery Leads.
2) To be part of the collective discussions on EDI, whilst also being allowed to have a say in Tonic’s necessary constant self-questioning.
3) To be understood that as an artist, my practice is a huge part of my identity.
It is so rare to find an office job, in which writing and making/performing music is not seen as a hobby or a weird thing.

What book/podcast/documentary/etc inspires you the most?

I am picking When the Sick Rule the World by Dodie Bellamy. With a warm and complex first person, this book takes us on an errant, challenging and playful political reflection on contemporary art, feminist poetry, queer intimacy and so much more. Dodie’s essays are fuelled by life. They’re both divine and disgusting, just like the world we are living in.

What 3 words would you use to describe Tonic?

Attentive pragmatic action.