In August this year, the Democracy and Governance cluster (DG – Transparency and Accountability)  in collaboration with OSF’s Programme on Independent Journalism (PIJ) sought to test the potential for journalists to collaborate with artists. The aim was to develop new and compelling formats of telling important journalistic stories that have a corruption and social justice angle. Done effectively, the assumption was that these stories would bring to the fore public interest stories in a format that captures public imagination, and ensure that new audiences have accurate information to interrogate political leadership and make informed decisions.

Through collaboration with artists, the project sought to contribute to the discourse on corruption and accountability, by engaging audiences through more than simply publishing “the facts” – we wanted artists to creatively tell stories in a way that is not only truthful but also emotionally resonates with audiences. This explorative work will help us determine if there if there are opportunities to leverage on arts, culture and new forms of journalism in order to influence public sentiment on corruption.

After a successful workshop between artists, creatives and journalists in Maputo, OSISA supported a number of artistic renditions of key corruption stories in Mozambique including the debt scandal, mapping of Chinese business in the country, corruption in the mining sector, environmental issues, corruption in local councils, education and hospitals, political corruption and the assassination of activists. These projects were in form of theatre productions, music, visual film, podcast and short videos.