Student reading lists: censorship in the arts

The arts are an incredibly popular outlet for free expression but too often they are restricted. Index on Censorship have recently published a number of law packs informing artistic organisations of their rights when having their works challenged.

This reading list combines a number of articles from issues of Index on Censorship throughout the years dealing with censorship in the arts. It includes an examination of street art as a symbol of freedom in Egypt and a look by Andrea Webster at the policing of theatre in Indonesia.

Students and academics can browse the Index magazine archive in thousands of university libraries via Sage Journals.

Censorship in the arts articles


Student reading lists

Censorship in the arts
Comedy and censorship
Journalism and censorship
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Minority groups and censorship
Threats to academic freedom
About the student reading lists
Technology and censorship


Hard times for poetry by Michael Morley

Michael Morley, June 1973; vol. 2, 2: pp. 23-26

Michael Morley discusses the poetry of  German singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann

Image Control by Zoriah Miller

Zoriah Miller, November 2008; vol. 37, 4: pp. 50-68

Photojournalist Zoriah Miller on the US military’s battle to stop him from revealing the true cost of the war in Iraq

Art or Vandalism? By Yasmine El Rashidi

Yasmine El Rashidi, September 2011; vol. 40, 3: pp. 78-88

A look at how street art has become a growing symbol of freedom of expression on the streets of Cairo

Freedom to Publish by Richard Kostelanetz

Richard Kostelanetz, March 1975; vol. 4, 1: pp. 58-60

The American artist, author and critic on the freedom to publish works

Play politics: policing theatre in Indonesia by Andrea Webster

Andrea Webster, July 1991; vol. 20, 2: pp. 73-5

How popular theatre in Jakarta, Indonesia is being stifled by the regime of President Suharto

Artful words by Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer, May 1997; vol. 26, 3: pp. 30-33

Nobel Prize-winning Nadine Gordimer on disagreements surrounding the role of literature in society

Censorship? What censorship? By Ursula Owen, Marie Korpe, Ole Reitov

Ursula Owen, Marie Korpe, Ole Reitov, November 1998; vol. 27,  6: pp. 5

Former Index editor Ursula Owen, along with Marie Korpe and Ole Reitov, introduces Index’s special report on music in censorship

Bring Music, Bring Life by Clemency Burton-Hill

Clemency Burton-Hill, September 2010; vol. 39,  3: pp. 11-19

Clemency Burton-Hill speaks to Daniel Barenboim about how government’s continue to fear the power and influence of music

Global View: Artists on the frontline of censorship battles by Jodie Ginsberg

Jodie Ginsberg, September 2014; vol. 43, 3: pp. 67-69

Index CEO Jodie Ginsberg deconstructs why artists are so often on the front line of censorship battles

The reading list for censorship in the arts can also be found over on the sage website

Fighting for free speech

Index on Censorship, along with English PEN, Article 19 and others, have moved to the Free Word Centre in central London. Over at Liberty Central, Ursula Owen explains the thinking behind the project:

Free Word’s mission is to promote the power of the written and spoken word, and to protect creativity and free expression generally. What makes it different from the many literature houses all over Europe is that its core principle is free expression and literacy –– which immediately makes its outlook international and political (not always seen as a palatable word in the arts). The ideas behind it were thrashed out by the eight founder members over five years. They are now resident in the building. Free Word is a venue, an office space, a thinking space, where media meets literature. In its theatre and meeting rooms you will hear familiar and unknown voices, the expected and the unexpected, debate and controversy.

Read the rest here