International visual arts collaboration puts focus on public health messaging
This week, CatchLight, The Everyday Projects, and Dysturb, a group of internationally influential visual media organizations, announces the selection of 15 artists from an international open call, and 6 new public art designs, for the worldwide public launch of their Artists Against an #Infodemic project.
Artists Against an #Infodemic is a collaborative visual project, made possible thanks to the support from the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships program at Stanford University and PhotoWings. The project’s goal is to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and racism in places where those information challenges are most prominent. Launching in Nairobi, Paris, New York City, San Francisco, Livingston, California, Seattle, and Yakima County in Washington State, the project includes public art activations, including large-scale paste-ups, murals, and poster flyers distributed in key locations, as well as a digital health campaign.
We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic.
— WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
The project draws on images by photographers, muralists, street artists, and illustrators from around the world to bring greater attention to public health messages. Working with memetic distribution expert Pamela Chen, and Dr. Jenell Stewart, DO, MPH, an Infectious Diseases specialist, the collaboration utilizes the power of visuals to contest misinformation and disinformation in communities where infection rates are most prominent, and to improve public communication and news delivery surrounding COVID-19 to underserved communities. Notes Dr. Stewart, “COVID-19 is still on the rise and people around the world need a way to see how the larger messages of health and personal safety translate into their lives and the choices they face.”
Throughout the artists submission and review process, the declaration of racism as a public health emergency and the latest movement of #BlackLivesMatter protests worldwide caused the team to reconsider their original rollout plan, to adapt to the changing public narrative, and to reassess areas of highest impact. As a result, the original campaign messaging about wearing masks correctly and staying home, evolved to include how to stay safe while protesting and how, when facing the twin epidemics of racism and COVID, racism is the greater health risk.
Elodie Mailliet Storm, CatchLight, reflected, “I can’t think of a more significant moment in my career. Even with the knowledge that health recommendations would be evolving, the quickly shifting health and social narrative over the past few months has challenged our team again and again. We are thrilled with the results and the selected 15 artists from around the world with whom we are working to rollout this international campaign.”
In May 2020, a call for art went live and received significant interest, with nearly 400 applicants. Selections were made in coordination with Dr. Jenell Stewart to identify key health and social messages appropriate for the first rollout of content. Guided by those messages, the team selected the initial images by 15 artists. The 15 artists and art collectives, representing six countries, include: Alice Nutley, Antonio Pellicano, Brian Musasia (Msale), Josué Rivas and Jose G. Gonzalez (photographer and illustrator collaboration), Juliette Delorme (Lady JDay), Rubén Salgado Escudero, Shaun Myles, Kiana Hayeri, David Radoli, Yesica Prado, Ashley Gilbertson, Tayo Kuku Jr., Nicole Buchanan, Alexia Webster, Michael Soi. Additional images were sourced from Amplifier’s open source illustrations.
“We work with a global community of photographers, and with this project, we’re seeing the power of photography to stress that both COVID-19 and racism are global issues. The images we’ve selected are unifying – they make it clear that everyone is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that we must work together to be part of the solution. There has never been a greater moment for photography and visual art to showcase our global interconnectedness, and we hope that our audiences in the streets see that connection when they peer into someone else’s life across the globe.” Peter DiCampo, The Everyday Projects.
The launch of the public art element of the project features six large-scale public paste-up designs, each of which include four visually compelling components. Each public artwork includes an illustration traditionally used for public health messaging, photography and a photo caption to articulate a specific personal story, and a health message or a general call to action.
In addition to the large-scale public paste-ups, the first of which have launched in New York City, Paris, Wapato, Washington, and Livingston, California, a new mural by Kenyan street artist, Msale, commissioned for the launch of the project is nearing completion in Nairobi, and small posters and dashboard placards for the vehicular community residents in the San Francisco Bay Area were developed and distributed by artist, Yesica Prado.
“When I was told about this project,” comments Jacqueline Benoit, Recreation Superintendent, Livingston, CA, “one of the things that I felt our community could draw from was that people from around the world were going through the same thing. We may not speak the same language, we may not dress the same, we may not live in all the same areas, but we are still fighting the same battle. These images are not from our little hometown, they’re from people outside of our region, and it’s really encouraging to know that we are not going through this alone.”
“We are constantly invaded by headlines and images, but to have these unexpected experiences in public spaces, in such a large-format size, is a powerful way to demolish stereotypes and to inform,” says Benjamin Petit, Dysturb cofounder.
In addition to the Artists Against an #Infodemic project initiatives, in April 2020 The Everyday Projects, in partnership with Dr. Jenell Stewart, developed a free guide to support photojournalists, especially freelancers with limited PPE to follow safety guidelines with their COVID-19 Guide for Visual Journalists. The guide, written by Dr. Jenell Stewart and published in English and Arabic, has had more than 26,000 views and continues to be updated. During April, Dr. Stewart also led a training webinar offered in conjunction with CatchLight, The Everyday Projects, and INN, which reached over 900 participants, becoming the most highly attended webinar INN has ever hosted.
“Images have the power to command attention and elicit immediate empathetic connections. They have the power to disarm and the power to inform. Paired with the added context that the written word can provide, they have the ability to remind us of the importance to protect each other and to encourage an intimate relationship with health guidelines,” Elodie Mailliet Storm, CatchLight.
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For more information about Artists Against an #Infodemic visit: www.ArtistsAgainstanInfodemic.org
Inaugural Artists
Brian Musasia Wanyande, Msale
Kenya (Nairobi)
Tulia Mtaani
Lady Jday
United States (Brooklyn, New York)
Tribute and Respect to both frontline and essential workers
Alice Nutley
United Kingdom (Bristol)
2020
David Radoli
Kenya (Nairobi)
#TujipangeKablaTupangwe (Let’s organise our communities)
Rubén Salgado Escudero
Mexico (Mexico City)
Corona Pandemic in Mexico City
Kiana Hayeri
Canada (Ontario)
Afghanistan’s Next War
Antonio Pellicano
Italy (Reggio Calabria)
The last dance
Alexia Webster
United States (Queens, New York)
I am because you are
Shaun Myles
United States (New York City)
Untitled
Josue Rivas and Jose G. Gonzalez
United States (Oregon)
Remember
Tayo Kuku Jr.
United States (Washington DC)
Nicole Buchanan
United States (Atlanta, GA.)
Michael Soi
Kenya (Nairobi)
Yesica Prado
United States (Berkeley and San Francisco)
Ashley Gilbertson
United States (New York, NY)
Project Partners
CatchLight believes in the power of visual storytelling to foster a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of the world. We serve as a transformational force, urgently bringing resources and organizations together to support leaders in a thriving visual ecosystem. Our goal is to discover, develop and amplify visual storytellers.
Dysturb is an international urban media dedicated to information and education. Its mission is to (re)connect global citizens with the news, and inspire action for a more just and sustainable model of society. Rooted in urban culture, Dysturb develops communication and engagement strategies to create meaningful and inspiring experiences, and to bring crucial subjects directly in front of people’s eyes.
The Everyday Projects uses photography to challenge stereotypes that distort our understanding of the world. Our ever-growing global community of photographers strives to make images that convey a more accurate view of daily life than what is commonly seen in the media. We are creating new generations of storytellers and audiences that recognize the need for multiple perspectives in portraying the cultures that define us.
Pamela Chen is a creative director who began her career as a photojournalist with a concentration in mathematics, a path which continues to shape her work exploring the intersection of photography, culture and technology. Over the past 15 years, she has been a visual leader at Instagram, National Geographic, and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Pamela is currently inaugural Human-Centered AI and JSK Journalism Fellow at Stanford University working with viral content creators to ultimately help design better algorithmic recommendation systems.
Jenell Stewart, DO, MPH is an Infectious Diseases physician-scientist at the University of Washington,where her research has focused on STI and HIV prevention in Kisumu, Kenya as well as among women sex workers in Seattle, USA. She provides clinical care for patients at Harborview Medical Center, a University of Washington affiliated hospital in Seattle.