“[Art] is what it is simply because it can break down fetishes and superstitions and is bold in explorations and because it opposes following the beaten path and dares to destroy outmoded conventions and bad customs.”
– Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
The first word in his quote is “science”, but art works just as well, if not better. In many repressive regimes throughout history, art is suppressed. As is science.
Galileo, Degenerate Art, Evolution…just to name a few.