Theme: Small Things, Great Things

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).

Fivelements
Banjar Adat Baturning Mambal Abiansemal
Ubud, Bali, 80352
Indonesia

Catherine Huang

Floating Hospital Staffer

Catherine Huang and doctorSHARE are converting an oil barge into a floating hospital to bring free healthcare to millions of people living in remote islands of eastern Indonesia. Before joining as Project Manager, Catherine spent 8 months traveling the non western world as a David Bonderman Travel Fellow, worked at Google[x] on Glass, at True Ventures as a TEC Fellow, and kick started student entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan as the CFO of MPowered Entrepreneurship.

Dade Akbar

Food Photographer

Dade believes that just because Indonesian street food is cheap doesn’t mean it can’t be presented with an artful flair. With his advertising creative director background, Dade hosts Warteg Gourmet, his Instagram account, and is trotting out the well-dressed tempeh with the pizazz of a 3-star Michelin restaurant. Presentation is almost everything…as long as it has that warteg flavor. A sassy makeover for beef rendang? Voila. You might just want to hang it on the wall it’s so appealing. His street food make overs have garnered attention on TV, magazine spreads, national ad campaigns, and been featured online: Wall Street Journal – Asia, Quartz, DesignTaxi, Food Geek & Love, Wowshack, and more.

Emily Penn

Sailor + Ocean Advocate

It all started when Emily needed a way to get to travel 14,000 miles to Australia for her first architect job and had already vowed never to take another plane. Managing to get on the fastest bio-fuelled boat, the Earthrace, her calling to be an ocean’s advocate and skipper surfaced like a humpback whale, and she continued to round the planet with the crew for nearly three years. Emily is also an artist, a Cambridge University architecture graduate, and director of global organization Pangaea Explorations that helps scientists, filmmakers and everyday people gain access to the most remote parts of our planet to see firsthand the ocean’s plight. She organizes mass-waste clean-ups on Pacific islands, trawls for microplastics in the Arctic and has discovered previously unknown oceanic gyres—huge areas of plastic pollution accumulation.Emily is the youngest and only female recipient of Yachtmaster of the Year, awarded by HRH Princess Royal.

Jaran Poleng Beleganjur

Traditional Balinese Gamelan Group

Jaran Poleng is a group of 21 young men from Payangan, Gianyar creating their own music within the traditions of beleganjur gamelan. The beleganjur gamelan includes 7 types of musical instruments, mainly percussive. The original purpose of beleganjur was to accompany armies into battle and strike fear into the hearts of the enemy. Gamelan beleganjur literally means gamelan of walking warriors. The Jaran Poleng group recently placed in a regional competition in Gianyar representing Payangan sub-district.

Kyla Langostky and Maxwell Hidajat

Biofueled Bus Pioneers + Students

Take the young bright minds of Bio Bus Team members such as Maxwell and Kyla, and the Green School Bali, committed to social responsibility and ecological sustainability, and presto, things get rolling. Via biodiesel that is. These two high school students tell us about the Bio Bus initiative: from cooking oil to fuel, from fuel to soap, and providing employment for locals. The Bio Bus Team, invited to France to attend COP21 (The 2015 Paris Climate Conference), and COY11 (the Conference of Youth), garnered international attention for their work in Bali. Maxwell is the Bio Bus Web and App Developer. Kyla is the GS Bio Bus Social Media and Outreach Coordinator. Both love their work with the Bio Bus project because they are “setting a green example.”

Kyle Parsons

Founder of Indosole + Environmentalist

Kyle Parsons makes a living from your trash, in particular, your old tires. His concern for the waste disposal challenges in Bali, an island he visited and became enamored with during a surf trip in 2004 led him to eventually found Indosole, a company that repurposes Indonesia's end-of-life tires into soles for footwear. Sadly, more than one billion waste tires end up in landfills worldwide and in tropical islands like Bali, it can become breeding grounds for mosquitos, which the leads to the spread of malaria and dengue fever. Or they are burned for cheap fuel, leading to toxic oils and fumes. With 15 years experience in action sports and fashion retail (including brands Ray Ban and Bern) Kyle now runs Indosole out of San Francisco; however, the 100% organic manufacturing process takes place in Bali, staffed by professional Indonesian craftspeople.

Lucia Carbines

Contortionist

Lucia Carbines fell in love with the performing arts when she was a little girl. She was that child that would tell you, “When I grow up, I’m going to run away and join the circus.” But don’t take that as child's talk, she made it happen. She trained in dance and acrobatics in her younger years, then found her true passion in contortion and the aerial arts when she was 14 years old. At the age of 17 she started her professional career which included high profile corporate events, leading roles in circus productions and international tours. Lucia strives to create unique performances combining the arts of contemporary contortion, aerial and movement. Lucia just recently returned home to Australia after performing as “Miss A in a Bubble” for 4 seasons with the New York smash hit “Empire” by Spiegelworld, touring Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and America.

Marlowe Bandem

Cyclist + DJ

Don’t try to pin a label on Marlowe Bandem. He’s a DJ, fixed-gear cyclist, creator of multi- media events, manager of two micro-financing banks, and vice chairman of the Widya Dharma Shanti Foundation that oversees STIKOM Bali, the largest ICT (information and communication technology) college in Bali. Latest collaborative initiatives include The Bali 1928 Project, a repatriation project of where Balinese recordings and films of the 1920s were repatriated from several countries; and Bali Record Store Day (April 2016) and SPRITES ART LAB: AGNI in Desa Lawak Badung (June 2016). Marlowe has contributed to many arts events in Bali, including Jean-Michel Basquiat Exhibition at Darga Gallery (2005), Bali Biennale: Space & Scape (2005), reclaiming public spaces via Ebullience Art Event (2009), and SPRITES Art and Creative Biennale (2013, 2015).

Noble Material

Musical

The Noble Material Roadshow debuted in 2015, was invited to perform at COP21 (The 2015 Paris Climate Conference), and COY11 (the Conference of Youth, also in Paris), and tours regularly around Bali. The Green School Bali prepares students to be stewards of the environment, teaching them to be critical and creative thinkers, who champion the sustainability of the world and the environment.

Sakdiyah Ma'ruf

Stand-up Comic

Sakdiyah Ma'ruf is one of the first Indonesian Muslim female stand-up comics. Passionate advocate for freedom and equality, she juggles life behind the mic as a comedian and interpreter. Producers have asked Sakdiyah to censor her own jokes, telling her that she is "too conceptual, theoretical, laden with message," but the stakes are too high for Sakdiyah to stop. Having grown up watching U.S.-based comedians drive their points home, she decided to use the same medium to get people talking about issues plaguing her own country. Sakdiyah received the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent at Oslo Freedom Forum 2015. She currently works with the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS): and the Moral Courage Project, New York University. She received her BA in English from UGM, Yogyakarta, and is working on her M.A.

Sandrayati Fay

Singer-songwriter

Sandrayati Fay is a singer and songwriter with Filipino/Irish-American roots, born and raised on the islands of Java and Bali Indonesia. Her songs are an expression of inspiration and perceptions that reflect her journeys and beliefs in the world revolving around nature, human rights, identity and love. She is now based in Bali, after spending 3 years studying theatre and music in the United States as well as traveling, playing at music festivals and women’s retreats. She is now studying at Bali’s 'One Dollar for Music' foundation as well as working with her parents organization ‘Samdhana’ which focuses on environmental and indigenous peoples rights throughout Southeast Asia

Sean Borland

Magician

Audiences love good magic because it’s oh so much more than just a trick. It is sleight of mind, and that is what first captured Sean’s interest in the connection between magic and body language at age 24. Deftly employing the psychology behind sleight of hand, hypnosis and misdirection he always leaves his audience awed and laughing. Sean’s corporate audiences have included executives of Coca-Cola, Tullet Prebon, UNICEF, Volkswagen, the Macquarie group, and Madame Tussauds™ in Sydney, Australia. Since June 2015 he has been the resident magician and body language trainer for the Nihiwatu Resort on Sumba Island. Sean has also led workshops at the Hariharalaya Resort in Cambodia and has also served as a consultant for the Paul Dubrule Hospitality School in Siem Reap. He is originally from Scotland and speaks fluent English, Greek, and Spanish as well as conversational Khmer.

Shilo Shiv Suleman

Artist

Shilo Shiv Suleman is a visual artist with a focus on the intersection of magical realism, art for social change and technology. In most recent years, she's been engaging with biofeedback technology, and the interaction between the body and art. She has created large scale installations that beat with your heart, apps that react to your brainwaves and sculptures that glow with your breath. She has also designed stages for some of the world's biggest festivals and conferences. She is the founder and director of “the Fearless Collective” that engages with gender issues and art for social change in India. As an INK fellow, her work became known when her talk made it to TED.com, and got over a million views in 2012. She was then chosen as one of the three pioneering Indian women at TEDGlobal, and spoken at conferences like WIRED, DLD in London and Munich.

Susan Tereba

Caregiver, Author

Susan and her husband Bob had a dream to live in another country and learn another language. Together they forged a life in Bali. Ten years later Bob showed signs of Alzheimer's disease. Susan vowed to keep Bob with her in Bali and give him the best life possible. From that experience she created a blog called Alz World, writing about being a caregiver and hoping to inspire other caregivers. "Tell your loved one you love him, over and over, each time you visit," Susan writes in one of her blogs, "Don't expect anything in return. But know that your love seeps in and caresses his or her spirits". Susan is an American artist, jewelry designer, and writer, has lived in Bali for 26 years. She has 14 years experience as the primary caregiver for her husband, Bob. Her book Piece by Piece: Love in the Land of Alzheimer's is now available.