ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kayla Briët - Filmmaker, musician
TED Fellow Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music.

Why you should listen

Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music. Briët's short documentary, Smoke That Travels, immerses viewers in her native Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation heritage and explores fears that her culture may someday be forgotten. This film has screened and won awards at over 45 festivals internationally, including MoMA in NYC, and has been archived in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. The film also earned her a year-long fellowship with Sundance Film Festival in 2016.

As a multi-instrumentalist and self-taught composer, Briët also scores her own films and creates music in styles ranging from cinematic to alternative pop to electronic. She performs live as a one-woman band, with her keyboard, guitar, loop pedal and guzheng zither, a traditional Chinese instrument. Recently, Briët was named a 2017 TED Fellow, 2016 Sundance Film Festival Ignite Fellow, 2016 Adobe Creativity Scholar, 2016 MIT Chamber Scholar for her interest in blockchain technology, and a 2016 Oculus Launch Pad Artist for virtual reality. Currently, she is creating and directing documentary and experimental film as well as immersive experiences in the virtual reality space.

More profile about the speaker
Kayla Briët | Speaker | TED.com
TED2017

Kayla Briët: Why do I make art? To build time capsules for my heritage

Kayla Briët: Por que eu faço arte? Para construir cápsulas do tempo para meu patrimônio

Filmed:
975,898 views

Kayla Kriët cria uma arte que explora a identidade e a autodescoberta -- a partir do medo de que sua cultura seja esquecida um dia. Ela nos conta como achou sua voz criativa e recuperou as histórias de seu patrimônio chinês, nativo norte-americano e indonésio-holandês ao infundi-las em cápsulas do tempo na forma de filmes e músicas.
- Filmmaker, musician
TED Fellow Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
When I was four years old,
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Quando eu tinha quatro anos,
00:14
my dad taught me
the Taos Pueblo Hoop Dance,
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meu pai me ensinou a dança
com aros de "Taos Pueblo",
00:17
a traditional dance born hundreds
of years ago in Southwestern USA.
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uma dança tradicional concebida
séculos atrás no sudoeste dos EUA.
00:22
A series of hoops are created
out of willow wood,
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Vários arcos criados
com madeira de salgueiro,
00:25
and they're threaded together
to create formations of the natural world,
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são roscados para criar
formações do mundo natural,
00:29
showing the many beauties of life.
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mostrando as muitas belezas da vida.
00:31
In this dance, you're circling
in a constant spin,
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Nessa dança, você fica circulando
num giro constante,
00:34
mimicking the movement of the Sun
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imitando o movimento do Sol
e da passagem do tempo.
00:37
and the passage of time.
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[árvore] [águia] [Terra]
Assistir a essa dança foi mágico.
00:40
Watching this dance was magic to me.
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Como numa cápsula do tempo,
00:43
Like with a time capsule,
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00:44
I was taking a look through
a cultural window to the past.
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eu dei uma olhada no passado
por uma janela cultural.
00:48
I felt a deeper connection
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Senti uma conexão profunda
00:50
to how my ancestors used to look
at the world around them.
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pela maneira como meus ancestrais
olhavam o mundo ao redor deles.
Desde então, fiquei obcecada
por cápsulas do tempo.
00:54
Since then, I've always been
obsessed with time capsules.
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00:57
They take on many forms,
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Elas têm formas diferentes,
00:59
but the common thread
is that they're uncontrollably fascinating
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mas a linha comum é que elas são
incontrolavelmente fascinantes
para nós, seres humanos,
01:02
to us as human beings,
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01:04
because they're portals to a memory,
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pois elas são portais para uma memória,
01:06
and they hold the important power
of keeping stories alive.
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e possuem o poder crucial
de manter as histórias vivas.
01:11
As a filmmaker and composer,
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Como sou uma cineasta e compositora,
01:13
it's been my journey to find my voice,
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a minha jornada é encontrar a minha voz,
01:16
reclaim the stories
of my heritage and the past
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recuperar as histórias
do meu patrimônio e passado
01:19
and infuse them into music and film
time capsules to share.
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e infundi-las em cápsulas do tempo
compartilháveis de filme e música.
01:24
To tell you a bit about
how I found my voice,
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Para lhes contar como encontrei minha voz,
01:27
I'd like to share a bit
about how I grew up.
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quero contar um pouco como cresci.
No sul da Califórnia, eu cresci
num lar multigeracional,
01:29
In Southern California, I grew up
in a multigenerational home,
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01:33
meaning I lived under the same roof
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ou seja, vivi debaixo do mesmo teto
01:35
as my parents, aunts,
uncles and grandparents.
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que meus pais, tios, tias e avós.
01:38
My mother is Dutch-Indonesian and Chinese
with immigrant parents,
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Minha mãe é indonésia-holandesa
e chinesa com pais imigrantes,
01:43
and my father is Ojibwe
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e meu pai é ojíbua
01:45
and an enrolled tribal member
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e um membro tribal registrado
01:47
of the Prairie Band's Potawatomi Tribe
in Northeastern Kansas.
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da tribo "Prairie Brand's Potawatomi"
no nordeste do Kansas.
01:51
So one weekend I'd be learning
how to fold dumplings,
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Assim, num fim de semana aprendia
a dobrar a massa do "gyoza"
01:54
and the next, I'd be
traditional-style dancing
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e, no outro, dançava o estilo tradicional
01:56
at a powwow,
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num "pow-wow",
01:57
immersed in the powerful sounds
of drums and singers.
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imersa nos sons poderosos
de tambores e cantores.
02:02
Being surrounded by many
cultures was the norm,
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Estar cercada por muitas
culturas era o costume,
02:05
but also a very confusing experience.
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mas também uma experiência muito confusa.
02:08
It was really hard for me
to find my voice,
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Foi bem difícil achar a minha voz,
02:10
because I never felt I was enough --
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pois nunca achei que eu era o suficientemente
02:12
never Chinese, Dutch-Indonesian
or Native enough.
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chinesa, indonésia-holandesa
ou nativa o bastante.
02:17
Because I never felt I was a part
of any community,
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Como eu nunca senti que fazia
parte de uma comunidade,
02:20
I sought to learn
the stories of my heritage
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procurei aprender as histórias
da minha herança
02:23
and connect them together
to rediscover my own.
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e conectá-las para redescobrir a minha.
02:27
The first medium I felt
gave me a voice was music.
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O primeiro meio que senti
que me deu voz foi a música.
02:32
With layers of sounds
and multiple instruments,
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Com camadas de sons e vários instrumentos,
02:35
I could create soundscapes and worlds
that were much bigger than my own.
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conseguia criar paisagens sonoras
e mundos que eram maiores do que o meu.
02:39
Through music, I'm inviting you
into a sonic portal
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Através da música, convido-os
a um portal sônico
02:42
of my memories and emotions,
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das minhas memórias e emoções,
02:44
and I'm holding up a mirror to yours.
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e fico segurando um espelho
para o seu próprio.
02:47
One of my favorite instruments to play
is the guzheng zither,
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Um dos instrumentos
que toco é a cítara "guzheng",
um instrumento chinês
parecido com uma harpa.
02:50
a Chinese harp-like instrument.
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02:53
While the hoop dance
is hundreds of years old,
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A dança com aros tem centenas de anos,
02:55
the guzheng has more
than 2,000 years of history.
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já o guzheng tem mais
de 2 mil anos de história.
02:59
I'm playing the styles that greatly
influence me today,
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Toco os estilos que muito
me influenciam hoje,
03:02
like electronic music,
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como música eletrônica,
03:03
with an instrument that was used
to play traditional folk music long ago.
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com um instrumento usado para tocar
"folk" tradicional muito tempo atrás.
03:08
And I noticed an interesting connection:
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E percebi uma conexão interessante:
03:11
the zither is tuned
to the pentatonic scale,
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a cítara é afinada na escala pentatônica,
03:13
a scale that is universally known
in so many parts of music
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a escala que é universalmente conhecida
em vários gêneros de músicas
03:17
around the world,
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ao redor do mundo,
03:18
including Native American folk songs.
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incluindo nas canções folk
dos nativos norte-americanos.
03:21
In both Chinese and Native folk,
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Tanto no folk chinês quanto no nativo,
03:23
I sense this inherent sound of longing
and holding onto the past,
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sinto um som inerente de saudade
e de apego ao passado,
03:28
an emotion that greatly drives
the music I create today.
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uma emoção que direciona muito
a música que crio hoje.
03:32
At the time, I wondered if I could make
this feeling of immersion
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Na época, eu queria saber se conseguiria
deixar o sentimento de imersão
ainda mais poderoso
03:36
even more powerful,
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03:37
by layering visuals and music --
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ao criar camadas visuais e musicais...
03:39
visuals and images on top of the music.
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imagens em cima da música.
03:42
So I turned to internet tutorials
to learn editing software,
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Daí, usei a internet para aprender
a usar programas de edição,
fui a uma faculdade comunitária
para economizar dinheiro,
03:46
went to community college to save money
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03:48
and created films.
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e criei filmes.
03:51
After a few years experimenting,
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Após algum tempo de experimentação,
03:52
I was 17 and had something
I wanted to tell and preserve.
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aos 17 anos, eu já tinha algo
que queria contar e preservar.
03:56
It started with a question:
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Começou com uma pergunta:
03:58
What happens when a story is forgotten?
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o que acontece quando
uma história é esquecida?
04:02
I lead with this in my latest
documentary film,
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Começo falando disso
no meu último documentário:
04:05
"Smoke That Travels,"
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"Smoke That Travels",
04:07
which immerses people into the world
of music, song, color and dance,
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que imerge as pessoas no mundo
da música, canção, cor e dança,
04:12
as I explore my fear that a part
of my identity, my Native heritage,
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enquanto eu exploro o meu medo
de que minha identidade e herança nativa
04:17
will be forgotten in time.
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sejam esquecidas com o tempo.
Muitas línguas indígenas morrem devido
à assimilação historicamente forçada.
04:20
Many indigenous languages are dying
due to historically forced assimilation.
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04:25
From the late 1800s to the early 1970s,
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Do fim da década de 1800
até o começo da década de 1970,
04:29
Natives were forced into boarding schools,
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nativos foram forçados
a ingressarem internatos,
04:31
where they were violently punished
if they practiced traditional ways
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onde eram violentamente punidos
se praticassem suas tradições
04:35
or spoke their native language,
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ou se falassem sua língua nativa,
04:37
most of which were orally passed down.
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a maioria das quais eram
oralmente transmitidas.
04:39
As of now, there are 567 federally
recognized tribes in the United States,
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Hoje, existem 567 tribos federalmente
reconhecidas nos Estados Unidos,
04:45
when there used to be countless more.
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sendo que havia inúmeras mais.
04:48
In my father's words,
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Nas palavras de meu pai:
04:49
"Being Native is not about
wearing long hair in braids.
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"Ser um nativo não é ter
longos cabelos trançados.
04:53
It's not about feathers or beadwork.
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Não se trata de penas e artesanato.
04:56
It's about the way we all center ourselves
in the world as human beings."
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Mas sim de como nos posicionamos
no mundo como seres humanos".
05:01
After traveling with this film
for over a year,
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Após viajar com esse filme
por mais de um ano,
05:04
I met indigenous people
from around the world,
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conheci povos indígenas
ao redor do mundo,
05:06
from the Ainu of Japan,
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os ainus, no Japão,
05:08
Sami of Scandinavia,
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os lapões, da Escandinávia,
05:09
the Maori
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os maoris
05:10
and many more.
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e muitas outras.
05:12
And they were all dealing
with the exact same struggle
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E todas elas lidavam com a mesma luta
05:15
to preserve their language and culture.
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para preservar suas línguas e culturas.
05:19
At this moment, I not only realize
the power storytelling has
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Neste momento, não só percebo
o poder que contar histórias possui
05:22
to connect all of us as human beings
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de conectar todos nós como seres humanos,
05:25
but the responsibility
that comes with this power.
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mas a responsabilidade
que vem com esse poder.
05:28
It can become incredibly dangerous
when our stories are rewritten or ignored,
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Às vezes é muito perigoso quando nossas
histórias são reescritas ou ignoradas,
05:32
because when we are denied identity,
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pois, quando negam nossa identidade,
05:34
we become invisible.
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nós nos tornamos invisíveis.
05:36
We're all storytellers.
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Somos todos contadores de histórias.
05:39
Reclaiming our narratives
and just listening to each other's
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Recuperar nossas narrativas
e simplesmente escutar uns aos outros
05:44
can create a portal
that can transcend time itself.
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pode criar um portal capaz
de transcender o próprio tempo.
05:48
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
05:49
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Joao Vital Parente Correia
Reviewed by Gustavo Rocha

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kayla Briët - Filmmaker, musician
TED Fellow Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music.

Why you should listen

Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music. Briët's short documentary, Smoke That Travels, immerses viewers in her native Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation heritage and explores fears that her culture may someday be forgotten. This film has screened and won awards at over 45 festivals internationally, including MoMA in NYC, and has been archived in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. The film also earned her a year-long fellowship with Sundance Film Festival in 2016.

As a multi-instrumentalist and self-taught composer, Briët also scores her own films and creates music in styles ranging from cinematic to alternative pop to electronic. She performs live as a one-woman band, with her keyboard, guitar, loop pedal and guzheng zither, a traditional Chinese instrument. Recently, Briët was named a 2017 TED Fellow, 2016 Sundance Film Festival Ignite Fellow, 2016 Adobe Creativity Scholar, 2016 MIT Chamber Scholar for her interest in blockchain technology, and a 2016 Oculus Launch Pad Artist for virtual reality. Currently, she is creating and directing documentary and experimental film as well as immersive experiences in the virtual reality space.

More profile about the speaker
Kayla Briët | Speaker | TED.com