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Art against Disinformation

Precious Chatterje-Doody, Paul-François Tremlett and Christian Mirra

Six-frame cartoon about an aqua-coloured social activist. In frame 1, the activist raises their fist above a banner depicting the scales of justice. The caption reads: ‘Ever fought against injustice? War? Rights violations?’ In frame 2, they handout flyers to a smiling crowd as shadowy figures record on a camera and a mobile phone. The caption reads: “It can be hard to make an impact, and if you do…” In frame three, the activist has a bullseye on their chest and is surrounded by a pointing finger and hands holding a gun, handcuffs, a camera and a mobile phone, whilst their shared speech bubble portrays the activist as a bomb-holding, knife-wielding terrorist. The caption reads “…there are many ways to target an inconvenient activist”. In frame 4, the activist holds a red book of ‘facts’, but their audience is absorbed in their phones and is repeating the portrayal of the activist as a terrorist, covering up the speech bubble of the activist. The caption reads: ‘A repeated lie can drown out all the evidence’. In frame 5, the activist holds a giant pencil and stands before their easel and artwork depicting the source of the ‘terrorist’ claim as a Pinnochio figure holding a money bag, as the audience look on in rapt attention. The caption reads: ‘But we can use art to cut through the noise…’. In the final frame, the artist’s pencil holds hands with the book of facts. Both are smiling and raising their fists in solidarity. The caption reads: ‘…making rigorous research accessible to everyone’.

People in very different societies across the world are involved in attempts to address social challenges and make things better, but they come up against a range of obstacles. In authoritarian regimes, activists often face physical dangers, like threats to life and liberty. But, character assassination and disinformation are tactics used to discredit activists in democratic and authoritarian regimes alike. Research shows that lies like these become more believable when they are repeated a lot, when they are easy to digest, and when they chime with people’s beliefs and feelings about the world.

But how can we combat lies with evidence, when the research that the evidence is based on is neither accessible nor catchy? Academics spend their entire careers working on big social problems, but often struggle to communicate their work to everyone else, whilst artists often engage the general public in topical issues, but without access to the latest research. Christian Mirra’s cartoon is a manifesto for what academics and artists can achieve if they work together.

About the academics

Precious Chatterje-Doody and Paul-François Tremlett are co-leads of the Democracy, Disinformation and Religion project and are both passionate about finding creative responses to contemporary challenges of disinformation.

About the artist

Christian Mirra

Christian Mirra, born in 1977 in Benevento, Italy, is a versatile illustrator, writer, and comic creator based in Santander, Spain. His diverse work spans editorial cartoons, comic strips, book illustrations, and graphic novels.

As a victim of the 2001 Genoa G8 police raid and subsequent false charges, he created the graphic novel "Quella notte alla Diaz" to combat disinformation through art. He eagerly joined the project Academics and Artists Addressing Social Challenges and is honoured to present a visual foreword to the exhibition.

Previous Image: Z Generation

This illustration is part of the Academics and Artists addressing Social Challenges initiative

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