Hey there! My name is Gabriela Leal —but I also go by Gabs Leal (she/her). I am an anthropologist from São Paulo (Brazil) currently based in Lisbon (Portugal). I work as a researcher, curator, and creative producer. After a lot of experimentation and a journey of self-knowledge, I can say with some clarity that three backgrounds define my professional profile —sometimes they run together, sometimes in parallel.
Academia. I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Urban Studies (NOVA FCSH & Iscte) and a researcher at CICS.NOVA, where I develop my project with a grant from FCT. I am also a collaborator of the GEAC-USP and one of the co-founders of the Urban Anthropology Collective (CAU - Lisbon). I have a MA in Social Anthropology and a BA in Social Sciences, both from the University of Sao Paulo; and a post-graduation in Theories and Practices of Communication from Casper Líbero College. I research topics related to the uses of urban spaces, urban epistemologies, the invention of the space(s), narratives about the city, peripheries, activism, and Hiphop Culture.
Market and Innovation Research. I've been working with market and innovation research for over ten years. I have worked at research companies and consumer goods/retail industries, such as Heineken Group Brazil, Grupo Pão de Açúcar, Nielsen, and TNS Research International. Recently, I also have worked as a consultant on different projects and themes, having collaborated with companies such as Box1824 and Inesplorato.
Visual arts and activism. Since 2015, I've been engaged with several visual art/activist projects —you can see some on the homepage. I've collaborated with different art/activism collectives (especially with APRAÇA and IMARGEM) and had projects awarded in public cultural announcements in São Paulo. Besides the production of visual pieces (from zines to exhibitions), through these projects, I developed different skills as a creative producer and discovered myself as an artist.
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Here are some links to my professional profiles on the web:
