African thumb piano jam: Hiroyuki
At TEDxTokyo, Japanese artist Hiroyuki plays a remarkable musical performance on the kalimba — also known as the thumb piano. A handheld plucking instrument still relatively obscure in Western music, the kalimba is an ancient part of the heritage of several cultures in sub-Saharan Africa. (Filmed at TEDxTokyo)
Each week, we choose four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Browse all TEDxTalks here »
TEDx Photo Spotlight: 5 great shots from TEDx performances around the world.
(Top: TEDxSydney, Australia; Clockwise: TEDxReset, Turkey; TEDxAmsterdam, The Netherlands, TEDxDunkerque, France; TEDxTokyo, Japan)
Snapshots of TEDxKids@Chiyoda, a TEDxKids event in Tokyo, Japan.
TEDxKids@Chiyoda brought over a hundred youngsters to the Chiyoda-Ku district of Tokyo for a day of talks, performances, and activities. The event was brimming with great ideas, but here are just a few highlights:
- TED Talk subtitles in kid-friendly Japanese: “As many Japanese kids doesn’t speak English yet,” organizer Ryuta Aoki said, “and many Japanese subtitles for TED Talks are too difficult for kids to understand, we made subtitles for kids and used them for TEDxKids@Chiyoda. The translation team got a lot of words of thanks from participants, especially their parents.”
- Live Japanese sign language interpretation: The event was streamed online with Japanese sign language interpretation, so that hearing-impaired kids and adults could join in on the action.
- A giant cardboard stage set: TEDxKids@Chiyoda’s design team created an over-sized table, chair, hat, shoes, and even a muffler made completely out of cardboard for a stage that even grown-ups couldn’t help but be wowed by.
- The TEDxKids@Chiyoda Kids’ Talent Search: The TEDxKids@Chiyoda team sent out a call for hopeful speakers before the event, eventually receiving over 10,000+ hits to its social media, and, in the end, two talented youth speakers — recipients of hearty applause on the big day.
Three TEDxChange events to look out for:
TEDxChange is happening on April 3rd. 200 events around the world will be livestreaming the main TEDxChange event in Seattle as part of the annual collaboration between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and TEDx — furthering the discussion of global health and development started at the very first TEDxChange in 2010.
Here are three events to check out this year:
TEDxDubaiChange; Dubai, UAE. TEDxDubai will be livestreaming TEDxChange at the Dubai International Financial Centre in Dubai. Local speakers include Dr. Shiblu Shamsudeen, one of the co-founders and former president of the Emirates Medical Students’ Society, and a leader in improving public and reproductive health programs in India, the UAE and the USA. Shiblu is also one of the 100 Young Leaders with Women Deliver 2013 working towards achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals and towards the empowerment of women worldwide. Learn more about this event here.
To prepare for TEDxChange 2013, the team behind TEDxDubai asked leaders to describe what “positive disruption” means to them. Below, Jeff Singer, CEO of DIFC, on crowdfunding, his favorite positive disruption:
Jeff Singer - CEO DIFC AUTHORITY | TEDxDubaiChange 2013 from Giorgio Ungania on Vimeo.
TEDxFukuokaChange; Fukuoka, Japan. Organizers Joe Okubo and Eriko Tsukamoto are banding together to bring TEDxChange to the masses in Japanese. On April 3rd, TEDx will send the English archive of the main event in Seattle to Joe and Eriko in Fukuoka, and they will use their amazing mastery of language to translate all of the talks into Japanese to share with their audience at TEDxFukuokaChange the very next day — April 4! Learn more about this event here.
TEDxButtePublicLibraryChange; Butte, Montana, United States. If you didn’t already believe libraries could change the world, you definitely will now. In Montana, Butte Public Library will be putting aside story time for a special, completely free showing of TEDxChange. If you’re anywhere near Butte on the 3rd, make sure to stop by. Learn more about this event here.
Want to attend a TEDxChange event? There are 200 TEDxChange events happening in 65 countries. Find one near you.
