banning bad books: on aesthetic education and censorship

Artworks are powerful and may convey hateful messages just as effectively as non-offensive messages. In recent years we have seen the importance of interpreting artworks in a context has grown, as has the acceptance of critiquing the social, political and ethical values artworks may embody or convey (whether or not intended by the artist). In this article, I explore two different responses to offensive art: disrupting it and banning it. In general terms, when it comes to public spaces such as art galleries and museums, I am in favour of disrupting but not banning offensive artworks. However, an increased sensitivity to discrimination makes teaching many classical artworks tricky. Should we continue to show and admire ethically problematic artworks, teaching them alongside a critically engaged contextualising attitude that may diminish their aesthetic aura? Or, should we engage in forms of censorship when it comes to particular artworks in schools? Art curators and activists have found ways other than censorship to counter problematic artworks’ political and ethical connotations. I defend pedagogical equivalents of such practices that encourage students to engage critically and contextually with artworks. Yet I also defend the need to censor some artworks in schools. I offer criteria for consideration – which I label content, context and presentation – that can be used to determine when there is a case for aesthetic censorship within schools.