Artist: Egyptian filmmakers
Confronting Bodies: Egyptian ruling States
Date of Action: 1914
Specific Location: Egypt
Description of Artwork: "Oghnlya ala-l-mamar" by Ali Abd el-Khaleq: after 1972.
"Alexandria" by Chahine: 1926.
"al-Asfour" ("The Sparrow") by Chahine, (1973): Banned until 1975. Political film about teachings of the Egyptians, on what they were doing in 1967 after they lost the Seven Day War, and especially after the June 9th Nassar resignation. Chahine comments on the role of history as witness.
Description of Incident: Censorship has always plagued Egyptian intellectual life. Film has been considered more dangerous than literature since it can affect the larger masses in a country where most people do not read or write. Officially institutionalized by the Palace and the British Embassy in 1914, it is a part of the Ministry of the Interior.
1914: The censorship bureau demanded from all filmmakers that they in no way, shape or form, criticize foreigners, civil servants and religion. It is forbidden to show the lifestyle of farmers, workers, or to express any opinions on nationalistic or neutral political views favorable towards socialism. No one is to criticize the past or present monarchy.
1936: The reactionary government of Sidki Pacha transfers the department of censorship to the office of criminology. After the Revolution, the aims of censorship are changed and filmmakers are no longer allowed to make any positive references to the aristocracy. Therefore it promotes socialist subjects showing the good of the new regime.
1972-73: The new pro-western and mostly pro-American approach of the Sadat regime imprisoned a number of filmmakers and banned their films.
Results of Incident: As a result it is still impossible today for an Egyptian filmmaker to show union movements of farmers, workers, or students.
Source: "Regard sure le Cinema Egyptien" by Yves Thoraval, Edition Darel-Machreg.
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Name: Trotsky's "Report of the Siberian Delegation"
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Date: 1900 - 1925
Location: Russia and Central Asia
,Europe
,North America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Public Speech
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Artist: Trotsky, Leon (Bronstein, Lev Davidovich) (1879-1940)
Confronting Bodies: Russian Imperial Government, Soviet Union Government
Date of Action: 1903+
Specific Location: Russia, Soviet Union, United States, Germany, Italy
Description of Artwork: "Second Congress of the Russian Socialist Democratic Worker's Party: Report of the Siberian Delegation", 1903: Held in Brussels and London in July 1903. Trotsky sided with Menshevick faction - advocating a democratic approach to Socialism - against the Bolsheviks rejecting Lenin's dictatorial methods and organizational concepts, aiming at immediate revolution.
Description of Incident: 1903 Russia: Banned by the Imperial Government.
1927 Soviet Union: Banned by the government. Therefore the same writings were banned by two opposing ideologies for the same reason- that they opposed the existing philosophies of government.
Results of Incident: 1930 United States-Boston MA: Works banned.
1933 Germany: All works banned.
1933 Soviet Union: All works banned
1934 Italy: All works banned except in deluxe editions.
Source: Banned Books 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D., by Anne Lyon Haight, and Chandler B. Grannis, R.R. Bowker Co, 1978.
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Name: "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn"
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Date: 1851 - 1899
,1900 - 1925
,1926 - 1950
Location: North America
,Russia and Central Asia
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Literature
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Artist: Clemens Samuel Langhorne (Mark Twain) (1835-1910)
Confronting Bodies: Public Libraries
Date of Action: 1876+
Specific Location: United States, Soviet Union
Description of Artwork: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", 1876 : novel featuring Tom, the "normal boy" mischievous but good hearted, winning triumphs through a number of adventures.
Complete hypertext of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" from Wiretap.spies
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", 1885 : novel about a boy, Huck and his black friend Jim who together make a journey , interrupted by frequent stops, far down the Mississippi on a raft.
Complete text of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
Description of Incident: 1876 U.S.A.-Brooklyn, N.Y.: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was excluded from the children's room in the Public Library. Also excluded from the Denver Public Library. 1885 Concord, MA: In the home town of Henry David Thoreau, the "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was banned by the Public Library as "trash and suitable only for the slums." The Concord Free Trade Club retaliated by electing the author to honorary membership. 1905 Brooklyn, N.Y.: The books were excluded from children's room of the Public Library as bad examples of ingenuous youth. Asa Don Dickinson, Librarian of Brooklyn College, appealed to the author to defend the slander. His reply, which was not published until 1924, said: "I am greatly troubled by what you say. I wrote "Tom Sawyer" and "Huck Finn" for adults exclusively, and it always distressed me when I find that boys and girls have been allowed access to them. The mind that becomes soiled in youth can never again be washed clean."
Results of Incident: 1930 Soviet Union: Books confiscated at the border. 1946 : Books had become best sellers in Soviet Union. 1957 United States-New York City : Dropped from list of approved books for seniors and junior high schools, partly because of objection to frequent use of the term "nigger" and famed character, "Nigger Jim." NOTE: Mr. Clemens censored "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and deleted the profanity and other strong passages, but left some which have at times been criticized, such has: "All kings is mostly rapscallions" (Ch.23) and "so the king he blatted along" (Ch.25). The London Athenaeum has called it one of the six greatest books ever written in America.
Source: Banned Books 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D., by Anne Lyon Haight, and Chandler B.
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Name: Naked Girl Falling Down the Stairs
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Date: 1900 - 1925
Location: Europe
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Painting
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Artist: Marcel Duchamp
Confronting Bodies: ?
Date of Action: 1912
Specific Location: Paris, France
Description of Artwork: Nude descending staircase
Description of Incident: Duchamp removed this painting from an exhibition after complaints from.....? (the gallery? patrons?) Supposedly he took it down and took it home in a taxi. It was listed in the catalogue but not shown. People were offended, this was shocking stuff.
Results of Incident: People didn't get to see the painting.
Source: M. Ciceri (Kingston, ON, Canada)
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Name: Carroll, Mary Cate Paintings
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Date: 1975 - 1984
Location: North America
Subject: Religious
Medium: Painting
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Artist: Mary Cate Carroll
Confronting Bodies: Mary Washington College and its Art Department
Date of Action: October 1983
Specific Location: Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA
Description of Artwork: The painting, American Liberty Upside Down... this is a work depicting an American family scene -- a man and a woman sitting on a couch, and a child on the mother's lap. But the child is depicted only in red dotted outline. In the middle of the child I built an actual door which the view can open if you open the door you will see the actual remains preserved in formaldehyude of a saline abortion-- a small greenish male fetus/child curled up head down in a real jar. The artwork was censored by the art department of Mary Washington College and removed from an already hung show to which I was invited before the actual opening.
Description of Incident: I was invited by my Alma Mater to participate in an art show of six alumnae of Mary Washington College. I was told in writing to bring whatever I wanted to show up to six pieces. I brought a series of paintings which I call the American Liberty Series. Two days after I hung the show and before the opening the college called and said there was a problem with two of the paintings and that they had debated whether to remove both and finally decided that the one "American Liberty Upside Down" would have to be removed and I was to come forwith and remove it from the campus. I challenged them on this but they insisted. I called the school and local newspaper. The case escalated into a little national brouhaha when writer/activist, Nat Hentoff, championed my cause in articles in the Village Voice, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. A detailed description of my case can be found in Nat Hentoff's 1993 book, "Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee". It should be noted that the censorship of this artwork was not covered by any Art Periodical or any Art Critic because I believe the Art world while decrying censorship regularly censors the work of what they deem the politically incorrect. It was after all the Art Department that did the initial censorship.
Results of Incident: Two year court battle. I sued college. We settled out of court. The college showed the piece two years later. I became persona non grata in the "art world."
Source: My own experience. Mary Cate Carroll (Finksburg, MD)
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Name: State Capitol, Olympia, Washington
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Painting
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Artist: Don't remember artist. Work was commissioned, public art.
Confronting Bodies: Not sure. Work was in Senate and House chambers. Paintings.
Date of Action: ca 1990. Got national media attention.
Specific Location: State Capitol bldg. Walls of Senate and House spectator galleries.
Description of Artwork: The work was described by some as being sexually explicit, as I recall. It was largely abstract design that was site specific and the design had to fill odd-shaped wall panels within the House and Senate chambers. People claimed that the abstract designs represented human genitals, as I recall. I saw the work, and could see what they were referring to, but in no way found it blatantly apparent that anything sexual was being represented.
Description of Incident: I read about the controversy in some of the art magazines at the time. I don't know anything about the details of the incident.
Results of Incident: As far as I know, the work is still on view. I seem to recall that it was covered for a while after it was installed, but I may be confusing this incident with some others that I have read about in the past.
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Name: Natural Born Killers banned in Guernsey
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: Europe
Subject: Other
,Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Film Video
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Artist: Oliver Stone
Confronting Bodies: The parish of Forest Constables
Date of Action: 19th February 1995
Specific Location: Guernsey - Channel Islands
Description of Artwork: Film about two people who go on a killing spree, and are made heros by the media.
Description of Incident: Although the British Board of Cencores gave the film an 18 cert. the Constables were given the chance to view the film before the viewing date after which they decided that it could not be shown. As Guernsey is split into 12 parishes the film can still be shown in any other parish.
Results of Incident: The other cinema on the Island in ST Peter Port have said they have no intention of showing the film either in the near future. As this film is not liklely to get a video rating, people living on Guerney will have to miss out.
Source: Mike Freestone
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Name: A Current (1995) Banning Action in Upstate New York
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Other
,Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Literature
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Artist: James Baldwin, Robert Cormier, J.D.Salinger
Confronting Bodies: Hudson Falls School Board, Hudson Falls, NY
Date of Action: Ongoing - February 1995
Specific Location: Hudson Falls, NY 12839
Description of Artwork: Banning of Catcher in the Rye, Go Tell It On The Mountain, The Chocolate War, and A Boy's Life. Grounds include sex scenes ("dirty books"), and themes of questioning authority.
Description of Incident: Parents objected to several of theses books (only The Chocolate War is actually on the curriculum) and asked that they be removed from the curriculum and library. The Superintendant of Schools decided not to comply with this (circa Nov 1994), but now the School Board is pushing the action anyway (Feb 1995).
Results of Incident: Unknown as yet.
Source: Local paper - The Post Star, Family, English teacher. MacLaren North (Chippendale, NSW, Australia)
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Name: Japan Seems to Have Won World War II (part I)
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Racial/Ethnic
Medium: Public art
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Artist: United States Postal Service
Confronting Bodies: Government of the Empire of Japan
Date of Action: late 1994
Specific Location: Washington D.C
Description of Artwork: 32 cent United States postage stamp, with illustration of atomic bomb explosion, and caption "Decision to drop atomic bomb saves GI lives"
Description of Incident: Government of the Empire of Japan protested, alleging that the A-bomb dropping at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not normal acts of war but racially motivated genocide - an obvious crock, since the victorious Allies did not exterminate the vanquished Japanese.
Results of Incident: The United States Government and the United States Postal Service kow-towed to the Japanese and withdrew the planned stamp.
Source: Multiple newspaper accounts. James P. Vichench (NY, NY)
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Name: Internet Service Provider Censorship
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: Europe
Subject: Nudity
,Sexual/Gender Orientation
,Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Electronic Media
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Artist: Usenet
Confronting Bodies: CI-Net
Date of Action: 1994/1995 on-going
Specific Location: Jersey. Channel Islands
Description of Artwork: Usenet newsgroups
Description of Incident: The Internet service provider chooses which newsgroups their users can and cannot have access to, most of the alt.* is restricted and many from the other categories.
Results of Incident: ?
Source: Customer of CInet
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Name: Women's Issues Club, Scarsdale H. S., NY
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Literature
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Artist: Women's Issues Club
Confronting Bodies: Initiator: W.I.C Opposition: Michael McDermott
Date of Action: Around September 1993
Specific Location: Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, NY, USA
Description of Artwork: Collection of posters, signs, and literature gathered from the Gay and Lesbian March on Washington was to be displayed for National Coming Out Day in Scarsdale High School, and posters from the Women's Issues Club describing the event were to be publicly displayed throughout the school.
Description of Incident: Vice Principal Michael McDermott rejected the posters, on the grounds that they were inappropriate and would be "misunderstood." Without his approval, the posters and signs could not be distributed or displayed.
Results of Incident: No appeal to the Principal or Board of Education was sought, to my knowledge. The existing posters and signs were removed from a display case in a little-traversed section of a hallway in the high school.
Source: A member of the club, Nadia Pervez
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Name: Australian Censorship
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: Australia
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Print Journalism
,Literature
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Artist: Polyester Books. A. Shulgin - Pikhal
Confronting Bodies: Customs, Melbourne, Australia
Date of Action: May 1993
Specific Location: Melbourne, Australia
Description of Artwork: All books and magazines which according to the classification board in Canberra are deemed to encourage or promote illegal drug usage.
Description of Incident: Customs have seized shipments from such book distributors as Homestead and Last Gasp, and seized any books or videos that have anything to do with drugs. After a few months we're informed that the books and videos can either be destroyed or they can be returned to the distributor with their supervision. in the U.S. Of course we have to pay the return freight.
Results of Incident: We're very careful when ordering books of this ilk from the U.S.
Source: Paul Elliott (Fitzroy, VIC, Australia)
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Name: Posters prohibited in NYC
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Racial/Ethnic
,Other
,Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Public Speech
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Artist: Humanist Movement
Confronting Bodies: City of New York
Date of Action: 05/09/94; 01/09/94; 10/09/94
Specific Location: Manhattan, New York
Description of Artwork: Posters inviting neighbors to participate in community activities; two community newspapers and a poetry reading.
Description of Incident: Case #1: New York "sanitation" police stops person taping poster to telephone booth, issues summons for $50. Poster was invitation to write in community newspaper. Case #2: New York "sanitation" police tracks author of posters using phone number, knocks on his door, issues three summonses for $50 each. Poster was invitation to write in community newspaper. Case #3: New York "sanitation" police delivers five summonses to owner of restaurant hosting a poetry reading. Owner lent space to neighbors, who put up the posters.
Results of Incident: Case #1: Person paid $50 fine. Case #2: Eight people, publishers of eight community newspaper, went to fight the summonses in a hearing. Finding there was no other way out, and knowing a the law cannot be enforced without proof, they denied having put up the posters, and the case was
dismissed.
Case #3: not yet resolved, first hearing was unresolved and
adjourned.
Source: I got the tickets from case #2 myself! Michael Howard (NY, NY)
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Date Edited: Wednesday, March 6, 2002
Name: Carnegie Mellon University Bans Sex from the Internet
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Electronic Media
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Artist: Usenet news groups dealing with sex (i.e. alt.binary.erotica.*)
Confronting Bodies: CMU SysAdmin Vs. Student Body
Date of Action: November 1994
Specific Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA., USA
Description of Artwork:
Description of Incident: CMU's Vice President of Computing Services, Bill Arms, made the decision to pull internet bboards pertaining to sex (i.e. netnews.alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.*, netnews.alt.sex.stories, etc.) from being access by users with accounts on CMU's computer network, Andrew. This was done in haste and without obtaining proper feedback from the student body. The decision was based on fear of breaking Pennsylvania's state pornography and obcenity laws.
Results of Incident: The bboards were indeed banned to Andrew users although a few of the text only bboards were not banned. It was mostly the bboards containing encoded binary picture files of erotic material that were banned. A student free speech protest was held.
Source: Dillon Lin. I am a student at CMU, other info includes the campus newspaper, Tartan. There is a WEB site on Andrew as well as local bboards discussing the incident.
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Date Edited: Wednesday, March 6, 2002
Name: Pure Pleasure Adult Bookstore
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Nudity
,Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Photography
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Artist: Pure Pleasure Adult Bookstore
Confronting Bodies: "Help Our Moral Environment" (HOME), LDS Church
Date of Action: July 1992-Present
Specific Location: Mesquite, Nevada, USA
Description of Artwork: Various adult videos, magazines and books. Erotic dance.
Description of Incident: The predominately Mormon community of Mesquite has banded together to refuse services and goods to the owner of the Pure Pleasure adult bookstore, opened there two years ago. The owner has been constantly singled out and harassed by building inspectors, the city council, the chamber of commerce, and other government entities. He has been refused housing by the property owners of Mesquite. Since the store opened, a 24-hour protest watch has been maintained by the church-organized "Help Our Moral Environment" group. They photograph anyone entering or leaving the store, and record their auto license numbers in addition to physically and verbally confronting them. HOME is currently pursuing a lawsuit aimed at the revocation of a lawfully granted business license. Their vigil has been maintained for the two years the store has been open, and recently completed construction on a permanent structure to house protesters on a nearby vacant lot.
Results of Incident: The incident is ongoing. The lawsuit initiated by HOME is slated to be heard in January, 1995.
Source: "The Salt Lake Tribune" -- daily newspaper. Clark Stacey (Salt Lake City, UT)
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