2023-10-28 07:31:54
Par Mathilde Barat
Published 4 hours ago, Updated 2 hours ago
At the Museum of Forbidden Art, visitors will discover controversial works by different artists such as Pablo Picasso, Banksy, and Gustav Klimt. Museum of Forbidden Art – Instagram Screenshot
The Museum of Forbidden Art invites the public to discover nearly 200 creations which have all been contested in the past for religious, social or political reasons.
These works could have remained hidden from the general public. The Museum of Forbidden Art, a new cultural establishment in Barcelona, Spain, offers visitors the chance to discover a truly unique collection. The establishment exhibits creations which have all been censored or contested in the past. Some have sparked controversy for political or social reasons, others for religious reasons.
«The Museum of Forbidden Art was born with the desire to be a space of creative freedom and a laboratory to address acts of censorship in art», Reports the cultural institute in its manifesto. The public will find big names in artists such as Banksy, Gustav Klimt and Andy Warhol in the establishment. Nearly 200 works from the 20th and 21st centuries are exhibited there. Among those, Raphael and the Fornarina VII: The Pope is sitting there by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, The revolution by the Mexican artist Fabián Chairez, or a dissident portrait by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, entitled Filippo Strozzi in Lego.
This portrait was particularly the subject of heated protests. Made up of Legos, the work represents the Florentine banker Filippo Strozzi. The latter is known to have opposed the Medici during the Italian Renaissance. The Danish toy brand thus refused in 2015 to provide the spare parts – necessary for the creation of the work – to Ai Weiwei. The company notably mentioned the overly “political” nature of the portrait. According to France Info the Chinese artist finally completed his project thanks to fundraising.
A triumph of freedom of expression
With the help of descriptive labels placed on either side of the museum, curious visitors will understand throughout their visit the reasons which led to the censorship of the various creations on display. “There are works that may not have great artistic value, but their story deserves a place in the museum. “It’s a triumph of freedom of expression.” reported Tatxo Benet, founder of the establishment, to the British newspaper The Guardian .
The objective of this collection is thus to raise public awareness of censorship in art, because the latter sometimes persists (too much) in democratic countries. “Far from accumulating the excesses produced by the abuse of power in the field of artistic creation, this collection reveals an unusual potential in our societiesspecifies the cultural institution on its website. This journey evokes both the scandalous essence of the collection on display and its ironic, contemplative, incisive, liberating, and critical facets.»
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