At the end of TEDxSydney 2016 we waved a fond goodbye to Edwina Throsby, our outgoing Head Of Curation. If you were at the Sydney Opera House or watched the even on our live stream, Edwina was the one that was suffocated under an enormous bunch of flowers in the closing minutes of the day.
On Edwina’s watch (and Janne Ryan’s before her) TEDxSydney has grown in size by a factor of 10, consolidating its position as Australia’s leading platform for the propagation of ideas, creativity and innovation to the rest of the world.
We’ve had an overwhelming amount of feedback that concurs that TEDxSydney 2016 was our best yet, and it’s to Edwina and her team that we give thanks for the expert curation of speakers, performers, film and food – all the strings that belong to the Head Of Curation’s bow.
Of course, that sounds like a tough act to follow, but we’ve found someone who can rise to the challenge – and we’re delighted to announce the appointment of Fenella Kernebone as our new Head of Curation for TEDxSydney 2017.
Fenella is a familiar face to TEDxSydney, having been deeply involved since 2014 as our live-stream host and lead interviewer. She is a noted television and radio presenter, producer and writer and has enjoyed a prolific career across arts, film, music, design and culture. Her hosting roles have included Radio National’s By Design, The Sound Lab on Triple J, Art Nation on ABC TV and The Movie Show on SBS, and most recently a five part series for ABC online entitled Design Shots, which focused on Australian designers.
Fenella will oversee all aspects of curation for TEDxSydney, leading and managing a curatorial team of more than 20 overwhelmingly voluntary curators and producers; all committed to the pursuance of a not-for-profit TEDxSydney mission to spread great homegrown ideas, while engaging and delighting a fast-growing member community.
Fenella says: “I am delighted to be joining the talented curatorial team to help shape the next phase of TEDxSydney, one of Australia’s most thought-provoking and inspiring events. Australia has a wealth of innovative thinkers and speakers and I am looking forward to collaborating with the team, to bring that diverse range of people together to speak with an equally diverse, creative and smart audience. It is also a great honour to be following in the footsteps of the brilliant Edwina Throsby and Janne Ryan.”
We can’t wait to see what Fenella has got in store for us – follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as we begin the journey towards TEDxSydney 2017.
Image: Fenella Kernebone (left) in conversation with Cyndi Shannon Weickert at TEDxSydney 2014. Photo by Jennifer Polixenni Brankin from the TEDxSydney Flickr archive