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In the 16th century, the Catholic church created the “Index Librorum Prohibitorum,” a list of books it considered blasphemous and a threat to its legitimacy. In April 1933, Nazis burned books they considered seditious — most of which were written by Jewish authors — in an attempt to “purify” the German language.

Book banning and burning in Indonesia is nothing new. The most recent scandal broke out surrounding a December decision by the Attorney General’s Office to yank five politically sensitive books off the shelves.

The ruling was promptly denounced by arts organizations, media advocacy groups and human rights activists, who have launched a campaign to have the ruling overturned.

Pelarangan Buku Menutup Jendela Dunia (Banning Books Closes the Window to the World), a recent exhibition which began at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta, and is now traveling through Indonesia with scheduled stops in Surabaya and Yogyakarta in April, is an offshoot of the campaign aimed at calling into question the reasoning behind banning books.

The repressed books include “Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Suharto’s Coup d’Etat in Indonesia,” by John Roosa, and “Lekra Doesn’t Burn Books,” jointly written by Rhoma Dwi Aria Yuliantri and Muhidin M Dahlan.

The AGO stated that the books were banned because of their potential to disturb order, which could later destroy public trust in its national leaders and cause moral degradation.

Several groups from around the country, including the Jakarta Arts Council, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Institute of Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and Institute of Social History Indonesia all joined forces to delivered a clear message denouncing the recent ban.

“The books were published two years ago and have not disturbed the public whatsoever,” said Arief Adityawan, the head of research and development for Grafisoial Indonesia, a human rights organization comprised of graphic designers working for social change .

The exhibit displays colorful posters, flyers, comics and paintings all celebrating the power of books. T-shirts with empathic exclamations — “Book, Not Bomb” and “Free Books” — line the walls. Stickers on display feature quotes from Indonesian literary greats like Kartini, Tjipto Mangoenkoesomo and Pramoedya Ananta Toer all extolling the virtues of reading.

The highlight of the exhibition is a blackboard set behind bars that lists the titles of books that have been banned over the last 50 years. A wooden shelf holds some of illicit materials and visitors are invited to sit down in comfortable chairs and have a look at a forbidden book.

Under current laws, the AGO has the authority to monitor printed materials as well as ban distribution and confiscate texts ruled to have the potential to disrupt public order. Critics say this practice has been abused to suppress the public’s right to know as well as shielding political figures from embarrassing revelations.