Unique personalities from Slovakia and abroad have been meeting on one stage in Bratislava for more than 10 years. Thanks to the multi-genre TEDx conference, people who are exceptional in their thinking, deeds, talent or potential are given the opportunity to speak. This is a selection of the most entertaining lectures that were given on the TEDxBratislava stage.
Prepared in collaboration with Dominika Babulicová, TEDxBratislava.
Josef Schovanec: The difficult life of a non-autistic person (TEDxBratislava 2015)
Josef Schovanec is an extraordinary French mathematician and philosopher. He graduated from the prestigious Paris Institute of Political Sciences, speaks ten languages, and lectures all over the world - about how great it is to be autistic! "You can have a doctorate in three-dimensional geometry and still not know how to tie your own shoelaces, I know people like that," he joked during his extremely funny talk about how difficult it must be for non-autistic people to be "normal" and constantly wonder what others think of us.Ivana Šáteková: I am Slovak and I will be Slovak (TEDxBratislava 2017)
In her work, artist Ivana Šáteková is intensely dedicated to finding the contemporary form of Slovak folklore. And she is not afraid to hold up a mirror to our nation, the reflection of which is not exactly flattering. Through her art, she perfectly depicts the typical character traits of Slovaks, which we idealize so much, but are often quite far from reality. Watch her bittersweet story about how she shatters myths about our hospitality, condemns alcoholism and points out sexism.Unknown participant on three percent of GDP (TEDxBratislava 2016)
As TEDxBratislava licensee Rasťo Geschwandtner says, everyone has a story, it just needs to be discovered. That's why the organizers occasionally give a chance to random speakers, who have three minutes to give their own TEDx talk. So in 2016, this unknown accountant ran onto the stage and cheerfully educated the 700-member audience on what a mere three percent can mean for the state budget deficit.Niccoló Massariello: The story of a photo model: This can happen to you too (TEDxBratislava 2018)
Although this talk is only available in English, it cannot be missing from our selection. Tuscan Niccolò Massariello shared his story as a promising photo model with the Bratislava audience. Niccolò always wanted to be famous, until one day his dream came true. His face was all over the world, but besides not making a single cent from it, his face sold things like alcohol, monster books, and even articles about venereal diseases. Watch this great stand-up about what can happen if you carelessly give up the rights to your photos.Samuel Trnka: Memes as a manifestation of folk creativity (TEDxBratislava 2012)
Do you still remember how information spread ten years ago? Basically, all mass media operated in one direction. But with the spread of the Internet into households and the advent of social networks, two interesting phenomena emerged. One - not so positive - is conspiracies. But the other entertains us practically daily by satirizing current events and everyday life situations. Internet memes. Sites like 9gag or the Slovak Zomri or Cynická obluda have not lost their popularity over the years, quite the opposite. Humorist Samo Trnka is one of their big fans and explained at TEDxBratislava why he considers internet memes to be a manifestation of contemporary folk literature.About TEDxBratislava
The TEDx format was created with the motto “ideas worth spreading” in mind as a program of local, self-organized events that allow people to come together and experience a TED-like atmosphere. TEDx events are a combination of TEDTalks videos and live speaker presentations, designed to spark intense discussion and build relationships in a small group setting. These local, self-organized events carry the TEDx brand, where x = independently organized TED event.
The 11th annual TEDxBratislava will take place in July 2020, but before that, the Bratislava organizing team is preparing the TEDxBratislava Women conference in December.
