Volunteering for the Arts TEDxMonteCarloSalon
On Tuesday the 21st of January 2020, TEDxMonteCarloSalon held its first Salon of the year, âDisruptive Creation in Artsâ, for which we volunteered.
The event began with welcoming all the guests who came to watch the sold-out event, where we met three Arts experts: Eline de Kat (Artistic Director or the Monte-Carlo Opera), Toby Wright (Fine Arts painter), and Mark Armstrong (Director of Sothebyâs Monaco). It was incredibly interesting to meet everyone who all came from different backgrounds and countries. We hadn't realised before how well-known these TEDx events are.
To start the evening, we had the honor of having the students of the Académie de Danse perform an artistic dance on the music of John McLaughlin. The students split themselves in groups and choreographed the entire dance separately, fusing all of their ideas into one final piece. The result led to a poetic story of love and emotional impact which left the audience touched and motivated to delve into the artistic world even further.
Because we were busy organizing behind the scenes, we were unfortunately unable to watch most of the event. However, we experienced working together with and as a team in order to get things ready in a short space of time: getting the break-room set up and laying out the food and drinks, and cleaning up after to get everything back to how it was. The break was quite enjoyable, as it was far more relaxed than we were expecting and we got to hear a few peopleâs thoughts on the event. It was also really interesting to learn from experienced TEDxMonteCarloSalon volunteers how to work and what to do during this break whilst still keeping things enjoyable for ourselves.
The end of the event was a synthesis of everyoneâs thoughts on the several presentations. Every member of the audience willing to share their thoughts, provided a different perspective to the topics, which sparked interesting reflections on todayâs society and the impact of oneâs cultural background on their views. Something memorable which was said was that we cannot compare modern art to classical art and decide which is âbetter,' as they are two completely different types of art and have been made for different purposes and audiences. It would be like comparing a cat and a dog - it is completely subjective. (We personally prefer classical art, as they seem to have a lot more meaning behind them and can tell an entire story just by looking at it, which we have never seen before in more modern art.)
The series of the TEDxMonteCarlo Salons could not have been initiated better without this first Salon. The event sparked inspiration and motivation among everyone attending and we cannot wait for the next Salon, which will only exceed our expectations. This volunteering experience was really fulfilling and certainly very different to how we presumed it to be! It was much less stressful than weâd originally thought, and we feel that it gave us a real idea of what the TEDx spirit is. Hopefully, weâll get the chance to volunteer for TEDxMonteCarloâs next Salon too!
By Emilie and Karolina
















