Key Points
- A new art exhibition in Spain shows work that has been been "censored, assaulted, violated, banned".
- Many of the 42 works deal with religion or politics.
- The works are designed to widen our tolerance and reduce their scandal.
A crucified Ronald McDonald clown, prayer mats adorned with stilettos and sketches by former Guantanamo prisoners take pride of place at a new museum in Spain devoted to previously censored art.
The private Museum of Forbidden Art, which has opened to the public in Barcelona, features 42 works from around the world that have been denounced, attacked or removed from exhibition.
Works by artists such as Spanish master Francisco de Goya, US cultural icon Andy Warhol and Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei are spread over two floors.
The objects are part of a collection of 200 such works belonging to Tatxo Benet, a Catalan businessman.
While they push boundaries and often sparked controversy, Benet said this was not enough to be included in the museum, located in the centre of the Catalan capital, one of the world's most visited cities.
"We don't collect or show scandalous or controversial works in the museum. We show works in the museum that have been censored, assaulted, violated, banned," he told AFP.
"Works that have a history behind them, without that history they wouldn't be here," he added.
The Museum of Forbidden Art in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain features more than 200 pieces, including sculptures and photographs banned and censored in different countries of the world. Source: Getty / Europa Press News/Europa Press
'Always have a place'
Many works deal with religion, such as Finnish artist Jani Leinonen's McJesus of a Ronald McDonald sculpture crucified to a wooden cross, which was withdrawn from a museum in Israel.
The museum also showcases a photograph of a crucifix submerged in the urine of New York artist Andres Serrano, which was vandalised during an exhibition in France and sparked an uproar when first shown in the United States in 1989.
The artwork forms part of an exhibition called Censored being shown in Barcelona, which including sculptures and photographs banned and censored in different countries of the world. Source: Getty / Europa Press News/Europa Press
Another highlight is a work by French-Algerian artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah featuring 30 Muslim prayer mats, each adorned with a pair of sequinned stilettos, which was pulled from an exhibition in France in 2015 following complaints from a Muslim group.
Meanwhile Make America Great Again is a naked sketch of former US president Donald Trump with a small penis, by Australian-American artist Illma Gore. The artwork has been censored on social media sites and delisted from eBay after the anonymous filing of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice.
The artwork Make America Great Again by Australian-American artist Illma Gore is being shown at the Forbidden Art Museum in Barcelona. Source: Getty / LLUIS GENE/AFP
The US government ordered that art made by inmates at the detention centre would have to be destroyed when they are released after an exhibition of works in New York in 2017 sparked controversy.
"Any artist who can't show their work because someone prevents them from doing so is an artist who is censored, and therefore will always have a place in this museum," Benet said.
Benet said having so many controversial works together caused visitors' "levels of tolerance to widen and the level of scandal of the work to be lowered".
Corinna Dechateaubourg, a 56-year-old German who was visiting from Hamburg on the exhibition's opening day, said she kept looking up more information on the works on her mobile phone.
"I'm amazed, it's extraordinary, it's really interesting," she told AFP.
Montserrat Izquierdo, a 67-year-old Spaniard, said, "It is good to be able to see what is forbidden, what you are not allowed to see normally."
