Collaboration, Community and Conversation: AEPC at TedX Joburg Salon
28 Febuary 2026
TedXJohannesburg Voices of the Unheard
TedXJohannesburg Voices of the Unheard
TedXJohannesburg Voices of the Unheard | © Tedx Johannesburg Team
What does cultural exchange between Africa and Europe mean? This question sits at the foundation of the Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture project. With the aim of connecting people, bridging differences and creating new possibilities of collaboration, AEPC is engage in an ongoing conversation to understand the relationship between the two continents.
As part of this exploration, the AEPC collaborated with TEDx Johannesburg, giving away 10 exclusive tickets to the TEDx "Voices of the Unheard" salon, held on 28 February 2026 at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg.
This initiative specifically targeted young people, inviting them to share their perspectives on cultural exchange between the two continents. Participants submitted 2 minute videos expressing their views. Some of their responses included:
Cultural exchange between Africa and Europe mean…
“For a long time, Africa was treated like a mood board rather than a thinking partner. Europe extracted aesthetics, rhythms, labour and ideas and called it influence. Real culture exchange is different, its reciprocal. It is when Africa arrives not just with beauty but with frameworks.” Tevin Andrews
“It is the manifestation of human intellect that summons history, law, education, finance, politics to allow a space for healthier narratives.” Ntando Lima
“It allows us not to be ethnocentric, but to be aware of other people’s cultures and be sensitive to their histories. This helps us be more innovative, have more ingenious, and to be more creative” Lwandile Dlamini
“It’s being able to come together and find shared meaning in our stories” Minehle Ndela
“At its core principle, exchange between different cultures is a good thing, it’s not about being negatively reactionary to the complicated histories.”– Samuel Turpin
TedXJohannesburg Voices of the Unheard
TedXJohannesburg Voices of the Unheard
TedXJohannesburg Voices of the Unheard
The salon, titled “Voices of the Unheard” was a space that confronted repressed narratives, exploring surrealism and decolonisation. The event was structured into three thematic sessions: Becoming visible, Hidden stories and silent archives and lastly, Disruption, rage and reimaging.
The speaker's line up featured a diverse range of African creatives, musicians, researchers and scholars, including Tumi Mogorosi, ByLwantsa, Anna Reverdy, David Mann, Desire Marea, Buhlebendalo among others. Each speaker engaged with the complexities that exist in the African creative ecosystem across disciplines, using their personal and professional journeys as a framework to unpack these dynamics. Through their presentations, speakers challenged convectional perspectives and invited audiences to engage with ideas, offering a deeper understanding of the creative industry.
Historically, a “salon” referred to a gathering space for intellectuals, artists and scholars to exchange and debate ideas: it was a space of learning. On this occasion, Goodman Gallery, sitting at the heart of Rosebank, Johannesburg embodied this tradition. It became more than just a space where art exists, but where art is interrogated, discussed and reimagined.