TEDx Marvila – The Art of Being Human – an event marked by electric energy and ideas
Text: Chris Graeme
On Saturday March 1 an amazing and inspirational happening took place in the Lisbon district of Marvila in a former 18th century convent.
It brought together entrepreneurs, artists, thinkers, writers, academics, educationalists, scientists, innovators, musicians and a school pupil to give their take on what it is to be human. That event was TEDx Marvila.
The organiser of the event, Anel Imanbay, who holds the English franchise, explained that the theme for the first ever TEDx event in English in Portugal ‘The Art of Being Human’ was important to each and every speaker, organiser and invitee attending or taking part in the event.
“Throughout the day our speakers addressed the question of who are we, what is the impact of progress, why do we need each other, and how do we stay humane?”.
The entire day, which attracted around 800 people, was centered around these core ideas, including an art exhibition called ‘The Heart of Being Human’ with the artist showing pieces of his art in different galleries in the building.
“What this event showed to me as an organiser is that there are a lot of good people with kind hearts who are willing to make their community better, and because our talk was fully in English and ‘live’, translated through AI support, it brought the Portuguese, ex-patriots living in Portugal and people from a wider international world together and built something very impactful, and that’s what I’m proud of”, said Anel Imanbay.
“We had Lisbon’s Mayor Carlos Moedas talking about the importance of dreams and putting them into reality, dental and regenerative technology expert Miguel Stanley taking about bio-hacking teeth that can impact our health and longevity, we had genetics topics and how genetics affects motherhood from innovation funding consultant Anna Kozlova, while leadership coach, author and founder Simon Court discussed the value of friendship”, she said.
“So, we went back to the core of humanity, and the only speaker who was allowed to speak about tech was 11-year-old António Amaral, student and young leader who gave a talk on ‘What if my patents were AI robots?’.
Anel Imanbay stressed that TEDx Marvila was all about going to the “heart and core” and the most important thing that every human should remember: Who are we?
But why did the organiser chose Marvila, a district in the East of Lisbon running along the River Tagus Estuary and one of Lisbon’s fastest growing new neighbourhoods, bordering the former Expo 98 site – Parque das Nações?
“I live in Marvila and am very proud to be a Marvila resident. Also, Marvila is a symbol of urban regeneration and transformation, where old early 20th century factories and industrial gas works meet the new and where re-generation, creativity and design have an impact”, added the entrepreneur, serial business founder and business advisor.
“Marvila is actually like a true image of a human being. As humans we go through so many difficulties and issues around differences and difficulties, innovations are game changers and we still manage to adapt and Marvila is a great symbol of that,” said Anel.
Work, Live, Love
Chitra Stern, TEDx Marvila sponsor, CEO and co-founder of the Elegant Group, a hospitality group that owns a string of high-end family resorts under the Martinhal brand, a boutique Lisbon hotel and residences, and together with her husband Roman was the mastermind behind the urban regenerative education project ULIS (United Lisbon International School and EDU Hub, explained the importance of the event to Essential Business at a pre-event cocktail hosted at the the group’s Lisbon Martinhal Oriente & Spa in Marvila/Parque das Nações.
“I love that Anel has organised TEDx Marvila, which is an amazing neighborhood where there is a lot happening and where we invested in refurbishing a series of buildings back in 2018 to form ULIS and the EDU Hub, so we’ve played a part in the urban regeneration of this neighbourhood which I hope will be recognised as a wonderful example in Europe of educational innovation and urban regeneration.”
“TEDx Marvila brought together entrepreneurs, creators and thinkers like myself and my husband Roman who have worked on regenerative projects here, as well as the developers VIC Properties – also a sponsor – that is doing a lot of residential development with Prata Riverside Village and Matinha and transforming this district of the city into what some people have referred to as the Shoreditch of Lisbon. It’s all about regeneration, rehabilitation and rejuvenation of areas that were formerly industrial but whose heritage now belongs to the past”, she said.
“It’s a proud moment to be hosting the pre-event cocktail” said Chitra who also announced a 14-apartment project in Praia da Luz in the Algarve with resident facilities and a kids’ club under the Martinhal Residences brand as well as an investment in the project at Belas Club do Campo called Lisbon Green Valley entailing the development of 20 apartments and some town houses under a new brand called Martinhal Living in the latest of many projects the Sterns have developed over the past 24 years under their slogan ‘Live, Work and Love’.
A community approach to living
Another key sponsor for the TEDx Marvila event, co-founder and chief executive officer of VIC Properties, João Cabaça said that VIC Properties had always selected large residential projects that not only build properties but look at the community as a whole.
“The focus we have is on how do we create a community from an old abandoned industrial area like Marvila and connect the new neighborhood with the local community, and we have been doing that with many initiatives socially, culturally and economically over the past six years.
“When TEDx came to us, for me the project was a no-brainer. Marvila used to be seen as a joke, a very rundown area with people saying: “Why would you want to invest in Marvila – do I need to take my passport there?”, almost as if it was another country or a twilight zone.
“All of a sudden, with a lot of hard work involving many people it has become one of the most vibrant and sought after areas in Lisbon and Anel, who is one of our clients, came to us and said that we could do even more for Marvila by putting it on both the national and international map through an event that would get international exposure”, he explained.
That event was to be TEDx Marvila which has an international dimension, and for me that interesting aspect was the actual topic The Art of Being Human because so often in this self-centered accelerated world it’s all about us and not about the others, and we saw an opportunity to connect as developers in an event that touches on many things that we do because it is not just about bricks and mortar, it’s about families, communities, and part of our friendship groups.”
João Cabaça says that VIC Properties is currently working on a vast project called Matinha on an old, disused gas works site, and after 20 years of battling to get the project off the ground, and finally getting planning permission to regenerate old contaminated land, give it a new lease of life and give it back to society. It is one of the largest real estate projects in Portugal with several infrastructures dedicated to residential housing (urban apartments, closed condominiums and townhouses), leisure and services which will transform this part of the city into an excellent area to live, work or simply visit.
The importance of story
Simon Court, a renowned leadership coach, co-founder of the leadership consultancy Value Partnership, and the author of Founder’s Legacy – Fifty Game-Changing Leadership Lessons for Building a Great Business (2024), who spoke about leadership at the event, talked about the importance of story and understanding who you are, what you care about, and what you are prepared to take a lead on, and courage which is what you need to take a first step and take responsibility for something you care about deeply”.
The youngest speaker was 11-year-old António Amaral, whose vision for a better world inspired his reflections in The Art of Being Human, where he champions genuine connection. Entrepreneurial and ambitious, he hopes to meet Warren Buffett to drive meaningful change globally.
He told Essential Business his take on AI and why it should never be incorporated with emotions. “Emotions can lead to lies and greed and as we know making plans for wars require or can be the result of emotions. And because AI has not been developed with emotions, it technically cannot make a war against humanity because this needs feeling and emotion.”
And now a reflection of my own. The Art of Being Human means being humane and showing humanity, but I wonder how many of those highly intelligent, gifted and entrepreneurial people who, because of their hard work and belief in who they are and what defines them, took a moment to look around them in the street outside leading to the beautifully restored Convent of Beato which was the venue for the event?
In true English fashion I arrived early, and was struck and shocked by where the art of humanity is lost and can be artless and heartless.
Ragged, stooped figures with disheveled hair, long beards and grimy faces. “Can you spare a euro, governor” was the message from this shuffling mass of degraded humanity; the dregs of society that have been left behind.
Looking down and wandering around like zombies in a film, forgotten examples of humanity straight out of a Charles Dickens novel.
Here there was no hope, just glassy, vacant eyes, specimens of humanity left behind while nearby the good and great applauded themselves and were applauded.
No one should be left behind by society in the Western world in the 21st century. In fact, what a glaring waste of humanity and a lack of humaneness.
The World, Portugal, Lisbon and Marvila have made great strides, but you don’t have to go to Ukraine to see the results of man’s inhumanity to man. All you had to do was open your eyes and look down the street to understand that there is so much more that needs to be done, and I hope Lisbon’s mayor, the sponsors and participants can understand that and use their privileged positions to do something locally around that problem right under their noses.
Image: Courtesy of TEDx Marvila: Anel Imanbay and Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas with members of the organizing team.
