SPRINTS x
TEDxYouth@Maydan

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, this has grown into an extraordinary global collaboration with 20 TEDx events, collectively hosting 22 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.

In 2023/2024, we collaborated with 13 events, hand picked by the TEDx Program. We supported the amazing 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.

*Meet the awesome artists (from left to right): Ibrahim Hassan Mahmoud, Basaer Talal Saeed, Jaber Sabah Muhammad, Shaimaa Amer Sheet, Ahmed Mahmoud Ahmed, Safa Ahmed Khader, Mubashir Muhammad Wajid*

Our event in Iraq

In 2023, we partnered with TEDxYouth@Maydan – one of the most prominent TEDx events in Iraq. The amazing team of TEDxYouth@Maydan hand-picked a powerful group of 7 local visual artists, organized a creative bootcamp and a public exhibition, and curated and produced the brilliant collection below.

There are not that many digital artists in Mosul, so at the start of the process, the organizers selected seven local artists, and conducted a digital art workshop led by three of these artists for the entire group.

Then, the SPRINTS bootcamp happened in the form of a two-day camping trip to the scenic Zoragvan region, where the artists produced a portion of their artworks. After returning, they completed their creative process and finalized their works.

At the camping trip, the seven SPRINTS artists were joined by about 30 other artists from five different Iraqi cities, invited by the organizers – to introduce them to the theme, and the event, and inspire them to create their own works in the future (see a short film documenting the camping journey below).

The exhibition took place in an open space within the Heritage House in Mosul, attended by about 1200 people. The official attendees included the French and Turkish consuls, a representative from the European Union mission, the Director of Cultural Programs at the UNESCO mission, more than 12 representatives from international organizations operating in Iraq, a representative from the Iraqi President's office, and the Governor of Nineveh.

Among the remarkable occurrences during the exhibition was securing local government support to establish a digital art club. This club will receive support from the Arts Institute, where a faculty member will train youth in digital art. This institute will be the first of its kind in Iraq. “This achievement wouldn't have been possible without your support”, share the organizers.

The Bootcamp & Exhibition

Reflections

“This was the first exhibition of it’s kind in Iraq – on climate change, for digital art. Also, for the first time in Mosul, families (including women and children) joined the exhibition, and their interaction was incredibly positive”

— Karam Al Snjarae, organizer, TEDxYouth@Maydan

“I cannot express enough how happy I am with the execution of this event and the impact I witnessed among the youth. Mosul still bears the scars of recent wars, and projects like this contribute to fostering love and artistry among the youth. Many expressed their desire to learn digital art and engage in the arts, which will aid in nurturing a generation fond of life, art, and acceptance of others—far from violence and hostility.”

— Karam Al Snjarae, organizer, TEDxYouth@Maydan

“I firmly believe that anyone embracing an artistic tool and being close to art cannot wield a weapon or harbor hostility. This goal was vividly evident to me during the exhibition. Thank you for being part of realizing what we believe in.”

— Karam Al Snjarae, organizer, TEDxYouth@Maydan