Join us for a risqué episode about smutty collections! We talk about sexual museum objects, attitudes to pornography and art, bedroom fashion, and erotic museums! (Contains 20% more giggling than usual. May cause blushing in some listeners.) Also tune in for a review of ‘On Sexuality’ and a Dear Jane about imposter syndrome.
00:24 Can collections be a bit naughty? (Spoilers: yes)
03:15 Our experiences of working on ‘smutty’ objects
09:15 What’s smutty in collections anyway?
16:32 Dedicated erotic museums around the world
22:58 How do we archive porn and why is it important?
30:45 Jenny has some weird exhibition ideas
33:38 The endangered ephemera of saucy magazines
35:17 Representation of LGBTQ+ relationships
38:37 Deterioration of modern materials
44:00 Review: ‘On Sexuality’
47:48 Dear Jane
54:11 Catching up after the Museums Association conference
Show Notes:
– Paul Rumsey’s art: https://www.facebook.com/ArtistPaulRumsey/
– Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s Roman penis pot: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/roman-soldiers-drank-out-of-this-penis-pot-for-kicks_us_570bd937e4b0836057a1c6bc
– ‘Penises and Caustic Soda’ article: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2010/jan/27/art-archaeology
– The Secrets of Cupboard 55: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4717695/The-secrets-of-Cupboard-55.html
– British Museum’s Shunga exhibition in 2013/2014: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/shunga.aspx
– List of sex museums: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sex_museums
– Musée de l’érotisme: https://web.archive.org/web/20120803081949/http://www.musee-erotisme.com/en
– The Temple of Venus: http://www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl
– Playboy Archive: https://www.playboy.com/products/every-issue-ever-the-official-playboy-archive
– The University Library Uncovered – the Truth About the Tower: https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/news/the-university-library-uncovered-the-truth-about-the-tower
– Secrets of Cambridge ‘Porn’ Library Revealed: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578614/Secrets-of-Cambridge-porn-library-revealed.html
– British Museum exhibition reveals saucy side of the ancient world: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/may/12/arts.artsnews
– Museum Pride London: https://twitter.com/museumprideldn
– The Attendant film: https://www.isaacjulien.com/projects/the-attendant/ and http://www.ttv-i.net/?p=1696
– On Sexuality – Collecting Everybody’s Experience: https://museumsetc.com/products/on-sexuality?variant=1260652100
– Festival of Change 2018: https://www.museumsassociation.org/news/08082018-festival-of-change-belfast-2018
– The Vagina Museum: https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk/
Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Christina Rozeik.
Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Additional sound effects and music by Calum Robertson.
Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
A Wooden Dice production, 2018.