SPIES FOR ART

“From 1950 to the late 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency covertly spent many millions of dollars spreading American art and American ideas while hiding behind a front organization, the Congress for Cultural Freedom. The CIA practiced stealth subsidy. That project was clownish in some ways – and totally undemocratic. In theory it was a terrible idea. But what didn’t work in theory worked in practice. It left unwitting readers of CIA publications with highly conflicted feelings. I, for one, sternly disapprove of the whole idea but also remain permanently grateful for it.” – National Post (Canada)