The Museu de l’Art Prohibit founded by Tatxo Benet, a journalist, entrepreneur and art collector, exhibits and amasses work that has been subject to censorship.
As you can read in his manifesto here, Benet was inspired to continue acquiring works which have been a magnet to controversy after he purchased Santiago Sierra’s piece titled ‘Presos Políticos en la España Contemporánea’ (Political Prisoners in Contemporary Spain) in 2018, to learn it was removed from view.
Benet told the Art Newspaper at the time ‘When there is an act of censorship, two things happen: an artist’s freedom is curtailed but also the people’s freedom to interact with the piece of art is restricted.’
Now, 5 years later, Benet’s mission is to support a space which ‘emerges with the aspiration of serving as a realm of creative freedom and a laboratory for addressing acts of censorship in the arts.’
The gallery has been established in Casa Garriga-Nogués, a small space which they hope will foster a sense of intimacy between viewers and the art. It will showcase works of art which have been ‘denounced, attacked or removed from an exhibition.’
The collection comprises more than 200 art works from painting and sculpture to photography, installation and audio-visual art created around the 1950s to today that have been prohibited due to political, social or religious reasons. Visitors can expect to experience works by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Pablo Picasso, Francisco de Goya, Robert Mapplethorpe, Gustav Klimt, and Tania Bruguera.
The museum is open in the centre of Barcelona from 10am to 8pm Monday to Sunday. You can click here to see which works will be on display for your visit, they are marked with an asterisk!