TED Talks Art
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
What soccer can teach us about freedom | Marc Bamuthi Joseph
05 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Soccer is the only thing on this planet that we can all agree to do together," says theater maker and TED Fellow Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Through his per...
3 creative ways to fix fashion's waste problem | Amit Kalra
15 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What happens to the clothes we don't buy? You might think that last season's coats, trousers and turtlenecks end up being put to use, but most of it (...
Fashion that celebrates African strength and spirit | Walé Oyéjidé
15 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"To be African is to be inspired by culture and to be filled with undying hope for the future," says designer and TED Fellow Walé Oyéjidé. With his...
How architecture can create dignity for all | John Cary
07 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If architect and writer John Cary has his way, women will never need to stand in pointlessly long bathroom lines again. Lines like these are represent...
Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair | George Steinmetz
24 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
George Steinmetz's spectacular photos show Africa from the air, taken from the world's slowest, lightest aircraft. Join Steinmetz to discover the surp...
Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care | Cleo Wade
19 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Artist and poet Cleo Wade recites a moving poem about being an advocate for love and acceptance in a time when both seem in short supply. Woven betwee...
The search for "aha!" moments | Matt Goldman
16 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1988, Matt Goldman co-founded Blue Man Group, an off-Broadway production that became a sensation known for its humor, blue body paint and wild stun...
How adaptive clothing empowers people with disabilities | Mindy Scheier
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you have a favorite T-shirt or pair of jeans that transforms you and makes you feel confident -- makes you feel like you? That's because what you w...
Inside Africa's thriving art scene | Touria El Glaoui
08 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Art fair curator Touria El Glaoui is on a mission to showcase vital new art from African nations and the diaspora. She shares beautiful, inspiring, th...
The next generation of African architects and designers | Christian Benimana
21 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Christian Benimana wants to build a network of architects who can help Africa's booming cities flourish in sustainable, equitable ways -- balancing gr...
The gift of words | Javed Akhtar
18 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Do you know what I mean?" Legendary poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar asks why we seem to be losing our power to use words -- and inspires...
What makes something go viral? | Dao Nguyen
07 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What's the secret to making content people love? Join BuzzFeed's Publisher Dao Nguyen for a glimpse at how her team creates their tempting quizzes, li...
The secret language of letter design | Martina Flor
05 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Look at the letters around you: on street signs, stores, restaurant menus, the covers of books. Whether you realize it or not, the letters are speakin...
Why do I make art? To build time capsules for my heritage | Kayla Briët
17 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Kayla Briët creates art that explores identity and self-discovery -- and the fear that her culture may someday be forgotten. She shares how she found...
Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa | Nnedi Okorafor
01 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"My science fiction has different ancestors -- African ones," says writer Nnedi Okorafor. In between excerpts from her "Binti" series and her novel "L...
The future of storytelling | Shonda Rhimes and Cyndi Stivers
30 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"We all feel a compelling need to watch stories, to tell stories ... to discuss the things that tell each one of us that we are not alone in the world...
Portraits that transform people into whatever they want to be | Uldus Bakhtiozina
19 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With her gorgeous, haunting photographs, artist Uldus Bakhtiozina documents dreams, working with daily life as she imagines it could be. She creates e...
The forgotten art of the zoetrope | Eric Dyer
10 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Eric Dyer spent years working at a computer to produce images for the screen. Longing to get his hands back on his work, he began exploring the...
Living sculptures that stand for history's truths | Sethembile Msezane
15 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the century-old statues that occupy Cape Town, Sethembile Mzesane didn't see anything that looked like her own reality. So she became a living scul...
How your pictures can help reclaim lost history | Chance Coughenour
31 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Digital archaeologist Chance Coughenour is using pictures -- your pictures -- to reclaim antiquities that have been lost to conflict and disaster. Aft...
Fun, fierce and fantastical African art | Wanuri Kahiu
29 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're so used to narratives out of Africa being about war, poverty and devastation, says TED Fellow Wanuri Kahiu. Where's the fun? Introducing "AfroBu...
"The Sacred Art of the Ori" | Laolu Senbanjo
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Every artist has a name, and every artist has a story. Laolu Senbanjo's story started in Nigeria, where he was surrounded by the culture and mythology...
A lyrical bridge between past, present and future | David Whyte
23 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With his signature charm and searching insight, David Whyte meditates on the frontiers of the past, present and future, sharing two poems inspired by ...
7 principles for building better cities | Peter Calthorpe
17 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
More than half of the world's population already lives in cities, and another 2.5 billion people are projected to move to urban areas by 2050. The way...
How artists can (finally) get paid in the digital age | Jack Conte
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a weird 100 years for artists and creators, says musician and entrepreneur Jack Conte. The traditional ways we've turned art into money (lik...
A dance to honor Mother Earth | Jon Boogz and Lil Buck
11 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Movement artists Jon Boogz and Lil Buck debut "Honor thy mother," a delicate, powerful performance of spoken word, violin and dance that draws on the ...
The stories behind The New Yorker's iconic covers | Françoise Mouly
03 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Meet Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker's art director. For the past 24 years, she's helped decide what appears on the magazine's famous cover, from the...
Can art amend history? | Titus Kaphar
01 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the pre...
How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer) | Grace Kim
24 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Loneliness doesn't always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people aro...
Why design should include everyone | Sinéad Burke
21 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sinéad Burke is acutely aware of details that are practically invisible to many of us. At 105 centimeters (or 3' 5") tall, the designed world -- from...
12 truths I learned from life and writing | Anne Lamott
09 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A few days before she turned 61, writer Anne Lamott decided to write down everything she knew for sure. She dives into the nuances of being a human wh...
Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead | Justin Davidson
06 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There's a creepy transformation taking over our cities, says architecture critic Justin Davidson. From Houston, Texas to Guangzhou, China, shiny tower...
Poetry, music and identity | Jorge Drexler
10 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One night in 2002, a friend gave Jorge Drexler the chorus to a song and challenged him to write the rest of it using a complex, poetic form known as t...
How do you build a sacred space? | Siamak Hariri
17 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
To design the Bahá'í Temple of South America, architect Siamak Hariri focused on illumination -- from the temple's form, which captures the movement...
Should we simplify spelling? | Karina Galperin
16 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How much energy and brain power do we devote to learning how to spell? Language evolves over time, and with it the way we spell -- is it worth it to s...
Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions | John Koenig
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
John Koenig loves finding words that express our unarticulated feelings -- like "lachesism," the hunger for disaster, and "sonder," the realization th...
The data behind Hollywood's sexism | Stacy Smith
24 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Where are all the women and girls in film? Social scientist Stacy Smith analyzes how the media underrepresents and portrays women -- and the potential...
Buildings that blend nature and city | Jeanne Gang
24 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A skyscraper that channels the breeze ... a building that creates community around a hearth ... Jeanne Gang uses architecture to build relationships. ...
Art made of the air we breathe | Emily Parsons-Lord
19 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Parsons-Lord re-creates air from distinct moments in Earth's history -- from the clean, fresh-tasting air of the Carboniferous period to the sod...
How loss helped one artist find beauty in imperfection | Alyssa Monks
26 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Painter Alyssa Monks finds beauty and inspiration in the unknown, the unpredictable and even the awful. In a poetic, intimate talk, she describes the ...
Ballroom dance that breaks gender roles | Trevor Copp and Jeff Fox
14 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tango, waltz, foxtrot ... these classic ballroom dances quietly perpetuate an outdated idea: that the man always leads and the woman always follows. T...
A project of peace, painted across 50 buildings | eL Seed
19 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
eL Seed fuses Arabic calligraphy with graffiti to paint colorful, swirling messages of hope and peace on buildings from Tunisia to Paris. The artist a...