Traveling exhibit shows censorship displays
An examination of censorship worldwide from the 13th century to present is the heart of a traveling exhibit from The Humanities Texas, an affiliate of the National endowment for the Humanities, which opened Aug. 24 and runs through Oct. 16 at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center showcase.
Titled, “The Bonfire of Liberties: Censorship of the Humanities,” the exhibit features display panels with quotes, images, and informative passages about the period of censorship each exhibit displays. One example on display of censorship in the Americas was a statement from Tlacaele, adviser to Aztec Emperor Montezuma, who said, “It is not fitting that all people should know these stories. Those who are subject, the people, will be spoiled and the land will be twisted.”
According to a press release posted on a CSC website, “‘The Bonfire of Liberties’ also examines the struggle between those who want to censor difficult, controversial and revolutionary material from sensitive viewers and those who want to protect the freedoms of all people to read, view, and think for themselves.”
The press release also states that topics covered by the exhibit include forms of censorship, public demands for censorship, freedom to read, religious censorship, of philosophy, drama and theatre, as well as literature, children’s books, art and art history, world; and American history and the history of women and minorities. The exhibit also shows censorship of the Bible, Shakespeare and Huckleberry Finn.
The exhibit explains that censors justified their acts of censorship to protect childhood innocence and common decency.
That reasoning is used today, even in the United States, by those who wish to silence artists, musicians or publishers who produce materials that potential censors oppose. In some cases, books and articles published in 20th century America were censored because of religious heresy or political thoughts “which could leave believers into error and eternal damnation,” one exhibit passage states.
One example, also according to the exhibit, involved high school students in Wasco, California, who were not allowed to read John Gardner’s novel “Grendel” in their English class without a letter of permission from their parents.
The exhibit closes with a phrase from the Act of Congress that created the national endowment which states, “The Congress hereby finds and declares – a high civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone but must give full value and support to the other great branches of man’s scholar and cultural activities in order to achieve better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future.”