Last week I was in Tallinn, Estonia. Henri Laupmaa (of Let’s do it! World fame) had approached me a few months ago at conferences in Prague and in Warsaw, to come speak at TEDxTallinn. So I did, and got to enjoy my first stay in Estonia a lot.
As in my TEDxZwolle talk last March, I centered my message on how Open Data is important in order to deal with the increased complexity that networked society creates in our every day lives. And how to get involved. A video will be made available soon. See slides embedded below.
It was a very pleasant stay in Tallinn. The TEDx hosts were great, and had arranged everything thoroughly and pleasantly, from fetching me at the airport, through taking care of us during the event, to bringing me back in time to catch my plane home. Of the other presentations at TEDxTallinn those by Estonian artists Okeiko and Olesja Katšanovskaja (also an art teacher) to me were most interesting, with their insights into how their work takes shape, and how their art helps to shift perspectives. I also very much enjoyed the presentation of Frida Monsén (blog) on her changing role as a teacher at the amazing school she teaches at in Sweden. Brought back memories of my education projects at Rotterdam University, and a group of primary schools here in the region. Next to the talks there were ‘labs’ where various interesting things were showcased. I rode an electric motorcycle, played around with a ‘floating hand’ controller, and saw a mind controlled helicopter fly.
Tallinn is a pleasant city, with a well preserved Hanseatic history. It made for hours of enjoyable strolls, especially now spring is finally here. Before leaving for the airport I explored the beautiful KUMU museum for modern art. There I saw a good overview of art during the Soviet era in Estonia (the exhibit of modern day art was closed for re-design), and an interesting exhibit of 1990’s Japanese anime artists. There again what stood out for me, as with the two artist talks at TEDxTallinn, is the process and the amount of work involved in making something.
