Theme: Bubi Eifach? - Child's Play?

A great performance on stage can seem like child's play (bubi eifach!) - in fact, a dancer, musician, magician, or any performer would go to extraordinary lengths to make seem what they are doing effortless, despite the many hours of practice they undoubtedly invest in their work. This is part of the charm such performances have on us: thanks to flawless execution we are carried into another world. Not to put any undue pressure on our speakers, but we look forward to speeches at TEDxBern that are equally engrossing!

Pavillon Gurten
Gurtenweg
Wabern, Bern (de), Berne (fr), 3084
Switzerland

Andrea Staudacher

Visual Artist & Experience Designer

Die Designerin und Künstlerin beschäftigt sich mit dem visuellen Aspekt der Nahrung – und will mit Experimenten unsere Gewohnheiten hinterfragen. In ihrer MHHorHMM Future Food Gallery bietet sie Gastronomen, Organisationen und Privatpersonen Erlebnisse zum Essen der Zukunft an. As a designer and artist, Andrea Staudacher deals with the visual appearance of Food. With her experiments she challenges our moral- and value system of today. In her MHHorHMM Future Food Gallery Guests can experience and taste the future.

Christoph Simon

Slam Poet & Author

Christoph Simon ist Schriftsteller und Kabarettist und lebt in Bern. Er ist zweifacher Schweizer Meister im Poetry Slam und Gewinner der "Sprungfeder" der Kabarett-Tage Olten. Zuletzt ist "Spaziergänger Zbinden" (Roman). Seine Texte und Bücher sind in neun Sprachen übersetzt. Christoph Simon is a Swiss writer and Slam Poet. After travels through the Middle East, Poland, South America, London and New York, he has settled in Bern. Last Publication: Zbinden’s Progress.

Christoph Trummer

Hermit

Christoph Trummer ist bald 60-jährig und lebt seit rund zwanzig Jahren ohne Besitz – dafür in grösstmöglicher Freiheit. Im Sommer in einer Hütte am Bach, winters in einer bescheidenen Behausung. Er verweigert sich unserer LEistungsgesellschaft konsequent und arbeitet nur so viel wie nötig, sodass er seine Fixkosten decken kann. So bleibt ihm viel Zeit um über das Leben nachzudenken und es zu geniessen. Christoph Trummer is nearly sixty years old and has been living without any posessions of any kind for about twenty years – instead, he is living in utmost freedom. In the summertime in a hut near a brook, in the cold season in a humble abode. He persistently refuses to partake in our performance-driven society and always just works as much as is necessary to be able to pay for the basics. By doing things his way, he is left with a lot of time on his hands to think about and enjoy life.

Claudia Meier

Networker

Claudia Meier lives in Berlin und works with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) and Build Up on global issues like humanitarian action, peace, and new technologies – often child’s play in theory but very difficult in practice. After three years of peacebuilding in East Africa, she is reengaging with civil society activism in the eastern parts of Germany, constantly wondering what Brandenburg can learn from Burundi. In her free time, you find Claudia with her photo camera on her bike, unless she is visualizing some interesting conference using pen and paper.

Cynthia Dunning

Director of ArchaeoConcept

As director of ArchaeoConcept, Cynthia Dunning Thierstein is responsible for heritage management projects. She is an archaeologist and cultural manager interested in the theory of archaeology and its management. She further directed the Schwab Museum in Biel and from 1998 to 2010 she was responsible for the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Berne. Cynthia Dunning Thierstein is also member of numerous national and international heritage associations (AS, ARS, AGUS, ICOMOS-ICAHM, ICOM, EAA, SHIRIN) and therefore develops projects on a national and international scale.

Donat Berger

Confectioner & Recipe Hunter

Bereits als Kind wurde Donat Berger magisch vom familiären Dessertbuffet angezogen. Nach der Hotelfachschule und diversen Aufenthalten in der Gastronomie begann er die eigenen Zuckerzauberein zu kreieren und gründete 2009 das Dessertcatering Schnouse. Drei Jahre später wurde in der Länggasse das Lokal Apfelgold eröffnet, welches nebst süssen Desserts seit kurzem eine eigene Produktlinie mit Teemischungen und sortenreinen Mosten führt. The familial dessert buffet had a magical pull for Donat Berger from his childhood. After graduating from hotel management school and working in several positions in gastronomy, he started conjuring sugary confectioneries and founded the dessert catering service Schnouse in 2009. Three years later the Apfelgold opened in the Länggasse, which offers its own tea and cider products alongside sweet desserts.

Franz Andres Morrissey

Professor, Artist and Blogger

Franz Andres Morrissey was born in Altdorf in 1957, educated in St.Gallen and Zurich and started working in TEFL during his studies. Between 1983 and 1992 he ran a linguistic consultancy before completing his PhD in sociology of language and applied linguistics. A lecturer at Bern University, he has a strong teaching interest in phonology and sociolinguistics besides teaching academic and creative writing. He comes from a musical family, has run poetry writing workshops nationally and internationally, is the author of several plays, writes about language and music, occasionally blogs about cooking looks back on a distinguished career of playing in completely obscure bands.

Gabriel Palacios

Physicist & Tinkerer

Born in Bern as the son of Spanish parents, Gabriel is a passionate teacher of science and Spanish at Hofwil high school. He loves travelling to distant countries and learning weird languages. He visited Australia, Mexico, Thailand and Iran with the Swiss Physics Olympics team, first as a participant and later as president. During a sabbatical, he chose to visit Chernobyl, Hiroshima, Fukushima and North Korea. The AdventureRooms, an educational game which he initially set up for his students in 2012, became a worldwide success.

Gwendolyn Masin

Violinists

Gwendolyn Masin is one of today‘s significant concert violinists. She is descendant of a lineage of classically-trained musicians and remembers playing violin as naturally as having a conversation when she was a child. She has been a regular guest on TV and radio shows and has performed to critical acclaim throughout Europe, Russia, South Africa, the Middle East, and North America as a soloist with renowned orchestras and as a chamber musician. Masin holds degrees with highest honors from the Royal Schools of Music in London, England; the Hochschule der Künste in Berne, Switzerland; and the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany. She is Professor of Violin Studies at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, since September 2013. Masin is also greatly involved in curating and producing music festivals. Most prominent for Masin is her role as Artistic Director of GAIA, an annual festival held in Switzerland, recognized as one of the country‘s most important.

Helene Aecherli

Journalist & Gender Studies Expert

Helene Aecherli was born in Lucerne and is half Swiss, half Swedish. She studied English and Northern languages at Zurich University. Soon after attaining her Master’s Degree, she started working as a journalist. Gender issues, as well as the social, political and religious developments in the countries of the Middle East, especially Jemen, stand at the center of her work. It is her aim to make people heard and visible who are endeavouring to achieve progress in their societies with creative and innovative ideas.

Joël Luc Cachelin

Managing director of Wissensfabrik

Dr. Joël Luc Cachelin (1981), Geschäftsführer der Wissensfabrik inspiriert und begleitetet Unternehmen in der digitalen Transformation. Er hat an der Universität St.Gallen BWL studiert und zur Zukunft des Managements doktoriert. Sein Wissen bringt er in thematischen Beiräten zur Digitalisierung (Swisscom) und digitalen Diversität (Microsoft Schweiz) ein. Er hat mehrere Sachbücher veröffentlicht, darunter “Offliner - Die Gegenkultur der Digitalisierung”. Dr. Joël Luc Cachelin (1981), is the managing director of Wissensfabrik. He inspires and accompanies enterprises in their digital transformation. He studied business administration at University of St. Gallen and graduated with a doctorate on the future of management. His expertise is vital in his work as a thematic councilor for digitalisation (Swisscom) and digital diversity (Microsoft Switzerland). He has published several works of non-fiction, amongst others "Offliner - the Counter-Culture of Digitalisation".

Mohamad Fakhro

Second Director at directorate for antiquities and museums in Aleppo

Second Director at directorate for antiquities and museums in Aleppo. Director of Department of excavation. Lecturer at the University of Aleppo. Member of many excavation projects in Syria, like: Emar-Balis, Tell el-Karmel, Al-Dayderiyah Cave , Tell Halaf, Tell Ahmar, Tell Leilan Tell Shiyukh Tahtani, Tell Qaber Abu al-Atiq, Qala'at Halawanji, Tell Al-Sweihat…..). Guest researcher in university of Tübingen -Tell Halaf /Guzana project. PhD University of Bern- Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften. I was working in the Directorate general of antiquities and museums, Syria.

Mohamed Alkhalid

Post-Doc Fellow

Mohammed Alkhalid, Syrian Post-Doc Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Institute for Archaeological Sciences of the Bern University. My current topic of research is the organization of the spaces and the originality of architectural organization of the second millennium BC cities in Syria. In 2013 I obtained my Ph.D. from Sapienza University of Rome, where in 2014 I worked as project assistant within the project “Ebla Chora” founded by the ERC. I have obtained my Bachelor degree from university of Aleppo in 2008. from 2006 till 2010, I participated in the Archaeological Excavations in the third millennium BC city of Ebla, with the Italian Archaeological expedition of Sapienza University of Rome.

Nina Burri

Dancer & Contortion Artist

Nina Burri, is an exceptional artist originally from Bern - Switzerland. After a very successful ballet career of more than 10 years. With engagements with the world’s best ballet companies, shows and theaters, such as the Moulin Rouge in Paris or Maurice Béjart’s Ballet in Lausanne, she decided to create her first acrobatic solo act, left everything behind and went to Beijing - China for 6 months to learn the art of contortion and hand-balancing in daily hard and long 8-hour-training sessions. Back in Europe, Nina created her first act called „Goldeneye“, a homage to the „James Bond“ movies, and right away started her new career with engagements in Europe’s leading variety, cabaret and circus shows, and she won her first award in 2009, the prestigious swiss newcomer prize „Prix Walo“. She earned her final breakthrough paired with international recognition with the second place in the TV Show „Switzerland’s Got Talent“ in 2011 and with the same emission just a few months later in

Peter Hafen

President Matteänglisch Association Berne

Seine Affinität zum Matteänglisch wurzelt in seinen Vorfahren: Urgrossvater sowie Grossvater waren Mattebewohner. Peter Hafen kommt in der Primarklasse im Kirchenfeld mit dem unter den Schülern verbotenerweise, da als unschöne Sprache geltend, gesprochenen Mattedialekt in Berührung. Das Matteänglisch erlernte er kurzerhand, um den im Berndeutschen nicht heimischen Solothurnern Vorträge über den Dialekt und das Matteänglisch zu halten. Seit 2000 sitzt Peter Hafen dem Matteänglisch Club Bern als Präsident vor. His affinity to Matteänglisch (Bernese slang) is rooted in Peter Hafen's ancestry: both his greatgrandfather and grandfather lived in the Matte neighbourhood. In primary school in Kirchenfeld, Peter Hafen came into contact with the spoken Matte dialect - illicitly so, as students were banned from speaking it as it was deemed too unattractive. He learned Matteänglisch pretty much on the spot in order to give presentations.

Regula Staempfli

Author & Publicist

Dr. phil/Dipl. Coach Regula Staempfli is a well-known Swiss publicist working as an author/consultant for online plattforms & newspapers in Germany, Belgium, France, the US, and Switzerland.

Silvan Zurbriggen

Graphic Designer & Illustrator

Silvan Zurbriggen 1986 in San Diego geboren und aufgewachsen in Münchenbuchsee, studierte an der Hochschule der Künste Bern (HKB) Visuelle Kommunikation. Nach Grafik Praktika in Reykjavík und in Bern absolvierte er das Masterstudium in Illustration an der Hochschule Luzern (HSLU). Am liebsten arbeitet er in der Schnittstelle von Grafik & Illustration, mit Schrift & Bild, so auch in seinem Grafikstudio opak. Silvan Zurbriggen born in 1986 in San Diego, raised in Münchenbuchsee (BE). He finished his studies in Visual Communication and Illustratione in Berne (HKB) and Lucerne (HSLU) and worked in Agencies in Reykjavík, Zurich and Berne. Preferably he works in the interface between Graphic Design and Illustration, between Typography and Illustration. This is also the main field of his design studio opak.

Simon Weidmann

Director Äss-Bar

Simon Weidmann wollte nach dem Geographie Studium in Zürich und Bern globale Probleme in der Internationalen Zusammenarbeit bearbeiten. Im Moment denkt er mit seinem Engagement bei der Äss-Bar global und handelt lokal. Essen fasziniert Simon, weil es so viele verschiedene Zugänge hat: Agronomisch, Wirtschaftlich, Kulturell, Gesundheitlich, Umwelttechnisch, etc. After studying geography in Zurich and Berne, Simon Weidmann wanted to be involved in the solving of global problems within international relations. At the moment, committed to the Äss-Bar, he is thinking globally and acting locally. Simon’s fascination for food stems from his multitude of approaches to it: agronomical, economical, cultural, ecological and health.

Thomas Stocker

Clima Scientist & Former UNO Representative

Thomas Stocker graduated from ETH Zürich in 1987 and held research positions in London, Montreal and New York. Since 1993 he is Professor of Climate and Environmental Physics at the University of Bern. This research group is leading in the reconstruction of greenhouse gas concentrations from polar ice cores and the simulation of past and future climate changes. From 2008 to 2015 he co-chaired Working Group I of the IPCC, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.