I must express my disappointment that for the second time in recent months
a posting from the Museum of Sex has elicited a string of puerile and
unnecessary e-mails from list members making cheap jokes about a serious
subject. Only Sarah Haldeman has made the point that such museums are in
fact very well worth studying. I have visited two such museums in Amsterdam
(the Museum of Erotica and the Venustemple), Ole Ege's Museum of Erotica in
Copenhagen and the Museum of Erotic Art in Hamburg and could recommend all
of them. The collections have invariably been impressive, consisting mainly
of works of fine art covering many centuries and styles from Greek vases to
digital photographs. Japanese and Chinese art is very strongly represented
(and it should be no surprise that there is a major sex museum in Tokyo).
Even the British Museum itself has amassed such a collection and has
recently admitted the wrongful assumptions that caused it to be concealed
in a 'secret cupboard' for many years.
The second point is that these museums display their collections in an
admirable way. I have rarely seen such intelligent mixes of traditional
objects in cases, audio-visuals, serious information (on topics such as
venereal disease) and points of humour to lighten the tone. These museums
have a lot to teach us about varying lighting techniques, extended opening
hours and highly readable, multi-lingual labelling. You may snigger but
there is an excellent educational interactive in one of the Amsterdam
museums where, amongst other things, the visitor can push a button to 'ask
the price' from a lady of the night. The Venustemple does indeed operate a
thriving souvenir shop with gifts available by mail order and in plain
brown paper wrapping.
Perhaps the point I most want to make is that the audiences these museums
attract are entirely respectable. From young couples to parties of old
grannies they have all been bristling full of visitors from across the
social and age spectrum. Other museums recognise this - for instance the
city museum in Copenhagen now includes displays about prostitution (and
even helpfully provides a map of present-day brothels in the city - Such
visitor services!).
Sex is a universal subject crossing all cultural, religious and racial
boundaries yet it is incredible to think of how many cultural museums the
world over ignore this subject. Sex influences modes of cultural expression
but the subject also embraces issues of public health, education, legal
regulation, policing etc. There's bags of material for innovative museums
to exploit! I, as a practising Christian and active worker for the Church
of England, would nevertheless have no intellectual or indeed moral
objection to working in one of the world's legitimate museums of sex. (Red
light districts the world over will of course contain imposter 'museums'
and there are also some private museums of more questionable taste such as
Iceland's Penis Museum). These museums are usually found in countries that
take a more relaxed view of the subject especially northern Europe and
Scandinavia but should not be misidentified as pornographic exhibitions or
seedy immoral attractions with no other purpose than relieve foreign
tourists of their money. I suggest that these museums, whilst certainly not
without their faults, have a lot for dedicated professionals to study and,
as such, merit serious discussion.
Neil Handley MA
Curator, British Optical Association Museum
The College of Optometrists,
42 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NG
Tel: 020 7839 6000 Fax: 020 7839 6800
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
web-site: http://www.college-optometrists.org/college/museum
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 July 2001 19:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Job Opening at The Museum of Sex
Having attended the Museum of Sex in Berlin, I must say that it was one of
the
better museums I've ever been to. All jokes aside, I recommed that you
check
it out if you're ever in that neck of the woods. It would also be useful
to
get in touch with them to see how they do things. It's a very large museum
with three floors and includes video, talks etc.
Sarah Haldeman
Arizona State University
Public History
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