SPRINTS x
TEDxNairobi

Use these awesome visuals.
Act for climate now.

About SPRINTS

Countdown, TED’s initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, and Fine Acts – a global creative studio for social impact, joined forces to kick off a series of SPRINTS creative bootcamps on climate change around the world. The goal: to engage artists to envision what a better climate future looks like. Today, four years later, this has grown into an extraordinary global collaboration with 22 TEDx events, collectively hosting 24 SPRINTS.

SPRINTS is an original format, developed by Fine Acts – a creative bootcamp where visual artists are briefed on a topic by experts, and then have 48 hours to produce an artwork on that specific issue. Throughout the process, artists are supported by a pool of mentors. Each edition of SPRINTS also ends with a public pop-up exhibition.

Furthermore, all visuals are published under an open license, so that activists, nonprofits, movements and educators globally can use and adapt them in their work towards climate action.

The TEDx events we collaborate with are hand picked by the TEDx Program. We supported the TEDx teams to select awesome local visual artists, organize effective creative bootcamps and inspiring public exhibitions, and curate a host of brilliant illustration collections.

As a result, hundreds of new artworks joined our unique Artists for Climate vault with open-licensed visuals on climate change. Selected works were also featured on Fine Acts’ global platform for free socially-engaged art – TheGreats.co, where they joined The Climate Collection, an invaluable public resource with a distinct focus on hope & solutions.

Artist Wanjira Kinyua sketching at SPRINTS x TEDxNairobi.

Meet the awesome artists (from left to right): Brian Kamau Mutung’u, Dada Boipelo, Elvis Owuor Oluoch, Lawrence Mwachiro, Lynn Atieno, Mutai Emmanuel, Mwadzame Omar, Nikita Abuya, Stephen Mutuku, Wanjira Kinyua

Our event in Kenya

In 2025, we partnered with TEDxNairobi – one of the most prominent TEDx events in Kenya. The incredible TEDxNairobi team curated a powerful group of 10 local visual artists, organized a creative bootcamp, and produced the brilliant collection featured below.

The first exhibition of this collection will debut at the 2025 TED Countdown Summit in Nairobi, taking place from June 16–18; and will also be showcased during TEDxNairobi in September.

The two-day SPRINTS creative bootcamp took place at Chez Mahmadi, a serene space in Kitisuru, Nairobi, dedicated to supporting local artists through gallery shows, masterclasses, and artist talks.

“Many of these artists live and work in residential areas dominated by concrete,” the organizers noted. “Having access to such a natural sanctuary was a true source of inspiration.”

Although some of the artists had connected online before, many were meeting in person for the first time. “It was a joy to witness their collaboration, the way they exchanged feedback, and the genuine sense of community that emerged,” say the organizers.

The artists in action at SPRINTS x TEDxNairobi.

The Bootcamp & Exhibition

Reflections

“The life of an artist is often lonely, especially as a digital artist. We rarely get to attend exhibitions and meet people in person. It felt wonderful to meet and work with other artists and to get feedback along the way.”

— Lynn Atieno, artist

“I truly loved the opportunity to draw about nature in nature – being surrounded by the very things we are fighting for made the experience even more special. I drew next to horses, huge trees filled with beautiful flowers, a playful cat, and under sunny skies filled with butterflies. This inspired my illustration, where all flora and fauna float together in harmony.”

— Nikita Abuya, artist

“As an organizer, I personally love surrounding myself with artists – whether it’s for an exhibition or a masterclass – because they inspire me. Spending these two days with them, watching them move from ideation to creating visuals that speak to bringing hope and solutions to climate change, I truly felt like we were part of a movement, part of the change. I felt like a changemaker.”

— Liliane Makole, TEDxNairobi