TEDxBratislava

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Alice Boyd

  Musician, sound artist and audio producer

  Alice Boyd, musician, sound artist, and producer working at the intersection of music, field recordings, and environmental listening. In her projects, she captures the voices of the landscape that often go unnoticed. Birdsong, sounds beneath the water's surface, and the acoustic traces of an environment changing faster than we realize. In her talk, she will take us on a unique sound journey. How will our perception change when, in addition to observing the landscape, we begin to truly listen to it?

• Arda Kertmen

  Designer

  Arda Kertmen is a young designer from Istanbul who studied Integrated Design at KISD Köln International School of Design in Germany. Arda does not see design as a profession tied to a specific medium. For him, it is a tool that a person learns in one field and can apply in any other. It is a way to step into unfamiliar territory without getting lost. For his graduation project, he began exploring an unexpected subject: traditional steamed bao buns. The project evolved in surprising directions, and Arda’s experience suggests that the boundaries between disciplines and even between people exist more in our perception than in reality, and that we can embark on a fascinating journey of discovery even without obvious qualifications.

• Christopher Ward

  Photographer

  Christopher Ward, a photographer and storyteller from Northern Ireland, approaches complete strangers on the street and asks them questions we might not even have the courage to ask our closest friends. In his project, Model Strangers, these encounters turn into portraits and conversations that are surprisingly honest. People speak of their desires and joys, but also of their vulnerabilities, regrets and loneliness. A brief encounter between two strangers becomes a moment of trust. Followed by millions online, these stories resonate because we often recognise something of ourselves in them.

• Daniel Thilo Schroeder

  AI research scientist

  Daniel Thilo Schroeder, an AI research scientist, studies what happens when AI agents stop acting like isolated entities. Today, we tend to think of artificial intelligence as standalone systems: one model, one decision. But what if AI agents start connecting, collaborating, and acting collectively? Not as tools, but as a swarm. His research suggests that this kind of coordinated malicious AI agents could quietly shape public opinion and undermine the very foundations of democracy. Working autonomously, without centralised control. And perhaps without us even noticing.

• Danny Bate

  Linguist

  Danny Bate, a linguist and writer, earned his BA and MPhil before completing a PhD in historical linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. He researches how languages develop, and can show us how different languages are far more similar to one another than we think. He has channeled his fascination with language into the book Why Q Needs U, which The Economist named one of its best books of 2025. In it, he demonstrates that language is not merely a system of rules, but a process that is constantly evolving. When we don’t understand something, we reach for a translator. Quickly. Without hesitation. And it is precisely at that moment that we lose something essential. Danny shows that a different language is not a problem to be solved. It is an open door inviting us to enter a new world, to discover the unknown, but also to discover ourselves.

• Divadlo Houže

  Independent puppet theatre

  Divadlo Houže, an independent puppet theatre for both children and adults, works with the tradition of wandering fairground and tavern theatre. Drawing from classic puppet theatre techniques, the company reinterprets them for the present day, searching for connections between the old, the contemporary, and the timeless. Their work blends humor, irony, genre fusion, hyperbole, and stylization. Their production Wolf on the Moon begins simply: a wolf wants to go to the Moon. But the farther he travels, the less the familiar rules seem to apply. Characters we recognize behave differently. Situations spiral into absurdity. And through humor, the play reveals questions that are neither childish nor fairy-tale-like. What emerges is a world where dreams mix with deception, where truth bends, and where even fairy tales are forced to confront reality.

• Katarína Baranová

  Actress and director of the LUDUS school and theatre

  Katarína Baranová, actress and director of the LUDUS school and theatre, drama education teacher, and healthcare clown with Červený nos, lives by the phrase ‘I create, therefore I am!’ quite literally. Her entire life has been connected to theatre, play, and creativity. She teaches drama education, guides people toward greater openness, and for the past two decades has been bringing playfulness even to places where we might not expect it — hospitals, education, and the everyday lives of adults. In her work, she combines pedagogy, art, and the craft of clowning. She reminds us that Homo ludens — the playful human — has never disappeared from within us. We have simply forgotten about it. And it is precisely through play that we may find our way back to creativity, courage, fuller experiences, and better ways of facing the challenges of adult life.

• Lenka Pavuková Rušarová

  Psychotherapist, clinical psychologist

  Lenka Pavuková Rušarová, a certified psychotherapist and clinical psychologist, has more than 20 years of experience in psychotherapy and personal development. She is a member of the Slovak Chamber of Psychologists and is registered in the Slovak Register of Psychotherapists. She runs the private healthcare facility PsychoKonzult and teaches at the Department of Psychology at Comenius University. Lenka is also a co-founder of the advice podcast Prítomie and regularly contributes to the psychological counseling section of Denník N. She has translated several professional publications and also works as an interpreter in the field of psychology.

• Lucia Hô-Chí

  Co-founder of gastro projects

  Lucia Hô-Chí, co-founder of gastro projects, will talk to us about a move that is gradually changing the way we perceive everyday life. In 2021, she moved to the countryside. Through small stories and everyday encounters, she has been gradually discovering that happiness is often hidden where we might not expect it. The gradual breaking of ice changes our perspective on what we consider truly valuable. And days that simply flow by can lead to a deep sense of life satisfaction.

• Matej Poliaček

  Flight Director at DLR, researcher

  Matej Poliaček, Flight Director and researcher at the German Aerospace Center, oversees the daily operations of the European Columbus laboratory module aboard the International Space Station. His work takes place between two worlds: astronauts in orbit and teams on Earth. He coordinates their collaboration, connecting European mission control teams on the ground with astronauts in space, as well as with NASA’s mission control team in Houston. Alongside this, he researches how the human body behaves in microgravity. The RESPIRE project studies the movement of aerosol particles in microgravity with the goal of advancing research into human physiology in space. Until now, space missions have mostly involved perfectly healthy individuals. But what changes when experts with common medical conditions begin traveling to space as well? Matej explores how inhalers could function in microgravity and what that could mean for the future of space travel.

• Michal Barbier

  Fitness athlete

  Michal Barbier, a five-time World and European fitness champion, explores movement as something far greater than performance alone. He started with parkour and street acrobatics, later focused on bodyweight strength training, and gradually moved toward systematic work on flexibility and coordination through hand balancing. After 16 years of exploring the human body, he realized that strength alone is not enough. The more a person is capable of, the more it becomes apparent how many layers movement truly contains. It is not just a matter of training, but also of attention, precision, and the ability to connect seemingly different skills into one cohesive whole. That is why, for years, he has been passing on his experience through online courses, training sessions, seminars, as well as through a movement academy for children and youth in Liptovský Mikuláš and Liptovský Hrádok.

• Sylvia Ciulis

  Designer

  Sylvia Ciulis, a designer specialising in folk culture, speaks about traditional Slovak culture without romanticising it and without prejudice. Originally trained as a lawyer, she worked in the legal profession for several years before deciding to change direction. Beginning with ceramics, she gradually moved towards traditional culture, craftsmanship and local identity. She collaborates with the Slovak Centre for Folk Art Production (ÚĽUV), works with collectors, and is involved in projects that explore new roles for tradition in contemporary Slovakia. In recent years, she has focused on the study of traditional dress from a design perspective. One outcome of this work is Traditional Dress, a project that received recognition at Bratislava Design Week 2024. In her talk, she will explore what local identity means today and whether traditional culture can become a natural part of modern life.

• Veronika Obertová

  Basketball referee and biomedical engineer

  Veronika Obertová, a basketball referee and biomedical engineer, lives in a unique tension between precision and movement, science and sport, planning and reality. On one hand, she makes split-second decisions under the pressure of thousands of spectators on the courts of Europe’s top basketball competitions. On the other, she has completed her doctoral studies and embarked on a path that originally led toward science. What began as a childhood game and later an almost accidental decision, gradually turned into a passion and a professional career. She believes that when you put only half your energy into something, you get only half the result in return. And that it is precisely the courage to go all in that transforms ordinary stories into extraordinary ones.