Theme: together

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Sydney Opera House
2 Macquarie Street
Sydney, New South Wales, 2000
Australia

All Our Exes Live In Texas

All Our Exes Live in Texas is a fantasy draft of Sydney’s finest singer-songwriters – Elana Stone, Katie Wighton, Hannah Crofts and Georgia Mooney – here combining in four-part indie-folk heaven. 
On mandolin, ukulele, accordion and guitar, the Exes deliver tunes that are tastefully crafted within the context of a playful and utterly charming live show. With four songwriters and four unique voices, the Exes make music that draws from traditional four-part harmony, creating a new brand of modern folk. Fair warning: You’ll need your charisma sunnies or you’ll walk away a little bit in love.


Asta with Emma & Missy

Asta is a Tasmanian native, first lifted from rural obscurity by triple j when they announced her winner of their prestigious annual national Unearthed High School Band competition. Triple j loved the laconic sound of the teenagers first single ‘My Hearts on Fire’ written about her schoolyard crush and recorded in her family home. They have continued to support Asta as a core artist across a string of fine singles including the dramatic pop of ” I Need Answers”, the steely new wave of “Wild Emotion” and her biggest success to date the transistorized slice of soul pop music “Dynamite”. Asta is set to release her debut album later in 2016 and is touring Australia in both her own right and opening for the Ellie Goulding tour arena tour in October.

Hosted By Sinéad McDevitt

Tralala Blip

Tralala Blip are unlike any other electronic outfit you’ve ever heard or seen. At the core is the contribution of the three members with intellectual disabilities. And contribute they do, this isn’t a patronizing or token set up. It’s powerful and joyous self-expression from people whose voices we don’t often hear. The guiding light of Tralala Blip is Randolf Reimann, former frontman for 80s hardcore band Massappeal. Continuing to be musically active, in 2007 he was sharing his love of electronica by running workshops for differently abled young people in Lismore. The workshops ended, but the keenest participants wanted to continue making music. They formed a band and Tralala Blip was born.

Urthboy

Urthboy (Tim Levinson) is an award-winning Hip Hop artist from Sydney, who just dropped his fifth studio album ‘The Past Beasts Inside Me Like A Second Heartbeat”. Urthboy’s first solo album Distant Sense of Random Menace was released in 2004, but it was 2007’s The Signal that kicked things up a notch. The first single ‘We Get Around’ cracked the top 25 in triple j’s Hottest 100 and it received two AIR Award nomination, a j Award nomina­tion, and was shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize (AMP). After a break and the birth of his daughter, Urthboy released ‘Long Loud Hours’ (featuring Bertie Blackman) his first official single in 3 years. Finally, on March 4, 2016 Urthboy released his new album The Past Beats Inside Me Like A Second Heartbeat.

Wafia

Netherlands-raised, Australia-based artist Wafia first surfaced on the release of ‘Breathe In’ a collaborative single with Melbourne’s Japanese Wallpaper, which was personally selected by Zach Braff for the official soundtrack to his 2014 feature ‘Wish I Was Here’ alongside Bon Iver and Cat Power. 2014 saw WAFIA release her cover of Mario’s Let Me Love You which reached the coveted number 1 position on the Hype Machine charts and has over 5 Million plays. WAFIA’s debut EP includes production by Ta-Ku, Thrupence and co-writes with Vancouver Sleep Clinic and Ben Abraham.

Amrita Hepi

Amy Reichelt

Bridie O'Dea

Bukhchuluun Ganburged

Bukhchuluun Ganburged (Bukhu) is a master student of the Music and Dance Conservatory of Ulaanbaatar. Performing the folk musics of Mongolia, and exploring the aural dimensions of sounds generated by traditional instruments and harmonic overtone vocal techniques. Based in Sydney, Australia since 2009. Bukhu was granted most prestigious Distinguished Talent Visa by the Australian government as an internationally recognised artist with exceptional and outstanding contributions to the arts.

Cathy Wilcox

Cathy Wilcox has been drawing cartoons since she was old enough to scratch the furniture. She honed her skills in the margins of school textbooks — always an eye out for squarish blank spaces. She earned her letters at Art College. This was followed by a fermentation period of a few years in the cultural petri-dish of Paris. Eventually the Sydney Morning Herald took pity on her and gave her her own blank spaces to fill. And here she is, churning out cartoons almost daily since 1989, pausing only to procreate, make cups of tea and collect cartooning awards.

Clara Vuletich

Clara is a designer, researcher, educator and consultant who has worked in the sustainable fashion space in UK and Europe for ten years, and is now based in Sydney, Australia. She was part of the team at the University of the Arts London who designed The TEN, a pioneering sustainable design methodology used by brands including H & M; VF. Corp. and Gucci Group. Clara has recently established a consultancy business that utilises The TEN framework to equip Australian fashion companies with training and insight on sustainable product innovation and strategy.

Deb "Spoons" Perry

Known worldwide for her skilful, energetic and entertaining spoon playing with the ability to engage people of all ages. Deb is a World Champion, finalist on Australia’s Got Talent and also has her own viral Warner Music video clip. She lives in Augusta a beautiful seaside town near Cape Leeuwin in W.A.’s south west, enjoys drumming, being grandma and many outdoor pursuits.

Elise Payzan-LeNestour

While she was studying at Princeton in 2005, Elise Payzan-LeNestour became interested in neurofinance: the study of how the brain perceives and reacts to financial risks. Since that time, Elise has developed her research at the London School of Economics, the Swiss Finance Institute, and California Institute of Technology. She’s currently collaborating with researchers at Brown University, Columbia University, and The Swiss Finance Institute, and is senior lecturer in finance at UNSW Australia business school.

Emily Parsons-Lord

Gill Hicks

Gill Hicks is considered to be one of the most thought provoking, powerful and life affirming speakers in Australia and the UK. She is globally known as a survivor of the London terrorist bombings on July 7th, 2005. She survived, but suffered severe and permanent injuries, losing both legs from just below the knee. Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Gill has lived in London since 1991, however in 2012 Gill returned to Australia where she operates nationally and internationally through her not for profit M.A.D. for Peace network. Her unique and compelling projects are aimed at both deterring anyone from following the path of violent extremism and building sustainable models for peace.

Jodi Rowley

Jordan Nguyen

Dr Jordan Nguyen’s mission in life is to improve the lives of as many people as possible and to be a driving force behind positive human and technological evolution into the future. He believes the relationship between humanity and technology is constantly changing and its role in our lives is becoming more integrated, leading us to a future that is ‘Beyond Superhuman’. Jordan completed a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 2012, and was awarded into the prestigious UTS Chancellor’s List. Jordan has been on the board of directors for Object: The Australian Design Centre, is a member of the board for the NSW Medical Technology Knowledge Hub, and taught project development in Artificial Intelligence design and Biomedical Instrumentation for engineering masters students at University of Technology Sydney.

Karen Palmer

Karen Palmer combines Neurogaming, Film, Wearable Technology and Parkour to create dynamic immersive video installations to inspire and empower the user. Her practise involves creating a sense of mindfulness and “being in the moment” to simulate a physiological and spiritual journey through storytelling and technology. Her project SYNCSELF 2 recreates the process of transcending fear, and was showcased at the iconic V&A Museum in London. This interactive parkour experience is controlled by the user’s mental focus, monitored by EEG biosensors, technology developed by Brunel University London.

Kelli Jean Drinkwater

Kelli Jean Drinkwater is a multi-disciplinary artist and activist recognized internationally for her creative practice and voice in radical body politics. Kelli Jean uses the fat body as a site to investigate the complex relationship we all have with our bodies and how that defines the world we live in. Recurring themes in her work are notions of ‘taking up space’, queering fat embodiment and how this reclamation can transform and reimagine the potential of self and community. Her work is motivated by how these ideas intersect with gender, race, class and ability. Her work has featured in major international galleries, festivals and magazines. Recent performances include Force Majeure’s Nothing to Lose for Sydney Festival 2015, NightCraft for MCA’s Artbar, Tableau Vivant for Underbelly Arts Festival, MonstaGras at The Red Rattler Theatre. Her directorial debut Aquaporko! won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Mardi Gras Film Festival 2013.

Ken Hillman

Ken Hillman is Professor of Intensive Care at the University of New South Wales. He graduated from Sydney University and worked at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney before continuing his training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He was Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Charing Cross Hospital in London, before returning to Australia, where he is an actively practising clinician in intensive care at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney. He has published over 150 peer reviewed articles as well as writing many chapters and edited several books. Ken has written a book, ‘Vital Signs’, aimed at the lay public on what really happens in intensive care. He is about to publish another one on ageing, dying and death.

Kirin J Callinan

Kirin J Callinan has drawn a metophoric career slingshot from critical accliam and celebrity endorsements that right now is armed and aimed high. Starring first in the seminal band Mercy Arms, Kirin shed the band skin and went solo with the brilliant but brutal 2013 debut album ‘Embracism’ on the UK’s pretigious XL Records. The album arrived with wildly acclaimed videos for ‘Way II War’ by Kris Moyes and ‘Landslide’ by Vince Vendetta.

Michael Kimmel

Dr. Michael Kimmel is one of the world’s leading experts on men and masculinities. He was called “the world’s most prominent male feminist” in The Guardian newspaper in London. He is the SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University. Among his many books are Manhood in America, Angry White Men, The Politics of Manhood, The Gendered Society and the best seller Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, he founded the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook in 2013.

Michael J. Biercuk

Associate Professor Michael J. Biercuk is a quantum physicist and technologist at the University of Sydney, and a Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS). His own group – the Quantum Control Laboratory – is discovering how to power a new generation of advanced technologies using the strangest rules of quantum physics. Michael’s research has been recognised with accolades including the Eureka Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher (2015), selection as one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s 100 Most influential people and award of the Australian Government’s National Measurement Institute Prize for Excellence in Measurement Science. He was part of an international team whose work developing a new quantum-powered technology was described as the #8 “World-changing” experiment by BBC Focus.

Natalie Jeremijenko

One of America’s brightest digital pioneers, Natalie Jeremijenko has been named one of the Top 100 young innovators by the MIT Technology Review, and one of the Top 40 most influential designers by I.D. Magazine. She now directs the xDesign Environmental Health Clinic at NYU. Her experimental design - hence xDesign - explores the opportunities new technologies present for social change. It centers on structures of participation in the production of knowledge, information, and the political and social possibilities—and limitations—of information and emerging technologies. Much of it involves biochemistry, physics, neuroscience and precision engineering, and almost all of it is carried out through public experiments.

Nick Coyle

Palani Mohan

Indian born, Australian raised, and now living in Hong Kong, Palani Mohan’s work has been widely published by many of the world’s leading publications. He is the author of four books and has just completed his fifth, on the Eagle Hunters of Mongolia, which was published in September 2015. His work is part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London and his images have been shown widely around the globe including at the prestigious Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignan, France. He has been recognized with awards including World Press Photo, Picture of the Year International, CHIPP, Communication Arts, and Sony International.

Peta Murchinson

Peta Murchison is a mother dedicated to raising awareness for Batten Disease - a rare degenerative genetic disease that affects otherwise healthy children who can sing, dance and bounce. From a young age affected kids start to lose their ability to walk, talk, see and smile. There is no cure for children affected and it will eventually take their lives. Awareness and research into this rare disease is imperative to find a cure.

Ray Dearlove

In May 2013, with Allan Davies, Ray Dearlove founded The Australian Rhino Project which is focused on establishing breeding herds of white and black rhinoceros in Australia as an insurance population for the two species which face the threat of extinction. In partnership with Taronga Zoo and the Business and Veterinary Schools of the University of Sydney, the project has gained global momentum.

Sandra Garrido

Stanislava Pinchuk

Tara Winkler

Tara is the Managing Director of the Cambodian Children’s Trust (CCT) which she established with Jedtha Pon in 2007 in order to rescue fourteen children from a corrupt and abusive orphanage. She has led CCT through a number of significant organisational changes, including the closure of the initial CCT orphanage in favour of a family-based care model to empower Cambodian families to escape poverty, assist institutionalised children return to families, and help orphanages transform to a family-based care model. Her first book, ‘How (NOT) to Start an Orphanage – by a woman who did’ was published in April 2016.