TEDxEastEnd Event. Pic: TEDxEastEnd
TEDxEastEnd will be hosting its first East London event for this year on the theme Society Beyond Borders on Saturday, January 30 in Hackney.
Forty speakers and performers with backgrounds in social activism will be presenting TED style, with live speakers, pre-recorded talks and performances on science, technology, human rights, food, sex, art and design.
Since 2011, the TEDxEastEnd team have organised four annual events across East London exploring the relationships between identity and borders. Curator and founder of TEDxEastEnd Maryam Pasha said: “Society Beyond Borders reflects the values of our event as well as the spirit of East London. We believe that the global mobility of people and ideas benefits society, that local and global are inextricably linked, that sharing knowledge and ideas across borders drives progress and ideas empower people towards positive social impact. East London is a global crossroads and hub for innovation and creativity – which reflects what TEDx is all about.”
Saturday’s event promises to be an “immersive experience” that will leave audiences “inspired and motivated.” Pasha said: “The talks are a spring board into new topics and an opportunity to hear about incredible initiatives and innovations that are changing the world. We hope our audience will share the talks with their friends and that they will continue to be involved in the global TEDx community.”
Dr. Matthew Green, TEDxEastEnd Speaker. Pic: Marianne Spurr
East London author and historian Dr. Matthew Green hopes to leave his mark with the audience as a first time presenter: “I’m a popular historian by trade so appreciate well the need to make stuff relevant, or you lose the audience. The best kind of popular history doesn’t have to slavishly tell the stories of “now” things like celebrity, social media, megalomaniacal right-wing buffoons.“
Instead, he said, popular history should hold up a mirror to the present day. “It should encourage us to draw parallels and reflect upon what is right and wrong with our own world. Basically it needs to be a good story or you’re doomed.”
And how good will his story be? The historian promised one thing: “After my talk, they will never look at coffeehouses in the same light again. They will join me in spreading a revolution that will sweep away the ghastly corporate chain coffee shops and usher in a new age of Enlightenment and face-to-face interaction.”
For more information on TEDxEastEnd visit: www.tedxeastend.com
