The Facts
On October 7, 2026, the Getty Research Institute highlighted its collections tracing six centuries of censorship, from the Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books to Cold War samizdat publications. The collections include the 1707 Spanish Inquisition edition of the Index, Nazi propaganda materials from the 1937 "Degenerate Art" exhibition, and a Hungarian samizdat copy of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" from 1984. The announcement coincides with Banned Books Week, observed October 4–10, 2026.
The Signal
The Getty's holdings offer a material history of how authorities have suppressed ideas and how readers and artists have resisted. The 1707 Index targeted Jewish and Muslim texts alongside Christian reform movements, while Nazi campaigns against "degenerate art" and music aimed to shape public opinion through propaganda rather than outright bans. Cold War samizdat publications, such as Miklós Haraszti's "The Aesthetics of Censorship" (1986), illustrate how artists in socialist regimes navigated state control. For collectors and scholars, these objects underscore the enduring tension between censorship and creative defiance, showing how banned works often gain cultural power precisely because they are forbidden.
- People: Isotta Poggi
- Museums: Getty Research Institute
- Locations: Los Angeles
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