The Museum of Prohibited Art Says Damn You, Censorship

Discovering hidden masterpieces at a new Barcelona museum

Image created by author with Bing Image Creator

In October this year, the Museu de l’Art Prohibit (Museum of Prohibited Art) opened in Barcelona. It’s the world’s first museum dedicated to art that’s been “censored, prohibited or denounced due to political, social or religious reasons”.

As someone who’s both deeply concerned about censorship and loves art, I booked a ticket to the museum as soon as I heard about it.

I wasn’t disappointed and if you’re in Barcelona, I recommend you check out this brilliant museum. It’s in a Modernista building, the Garriga Nogués house, which is itself a work of art. Best of all, it’s a fairly small museum so you definitely won’t get bored or overwhelmed.

The museum exhibits works by Abel Azcona, Ai Weiwei, Andy Warhol, Banksy, David Wojnarowicz, Ines Doujak, Pablo Picasso, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tania Bruguera and more. I loved all the exhibits — pieces of art that have provoked protests (aka moaning), been defaced and, ultimately, censored. Just because someone got offended.

Bloody hell, if you don’t like the art or its subject matter, don’t look at it. But you have no right to stop others from looking at it.