A sex museum is a
museum that displays
erotic art, historical
sexual aids, and documents on the history of
erotica. They were popular in Europe at the end of the 1960s and during the 1970s, the era of the
sexual revolution.
Since the 1990s, these museums are often called erotic museums or erotic art museums instead of sex museums.
Asia
The first sex museum in
China opened in 1999 in the center of
Shanghai; in 2001 it moved to the outskirts of the city. It was variously called "Museum of Ancient Chinese Sex Culture" or "Dalin Cultural Exhibition" after its founder,
sexologist Dr.
Liu Dalin. In early 2004 it moved again, to
Tong Li, and is now known as the
China Sex Museum, with over three thousand erotic artifacts.[1][2]
India's first sex museum opened in
Mumbai (Bombay) in 2002.[3]
South Korea's first sex museum,
Asia Eros Museum, opened in the Insadong neighborhood in
Seoul in 2003. The museum has since closed.[4] After a five-year legal battle, private collector Kim Whan Bae opened the Museum of Sex and Health in
Seogwipo,
Jeju Island, in March 2006.[5]
Love Land Park on
Jeju Island,
South Korea, opened in 2004. It is an outdoor sculpture park focused on a theme of sex, running sex education films, and featuring 140 sculptures representing humans in various sexual positions.
In
Japan, there are many sex museums called "Hihokan (House of Hidden Treasures)" everywhere across the country. They are located in amusement centers in popular sightseeing spots or
spa resorts, and usually run by individuals, not by organizations. They date back to the 1960s–70s; more recently such amusement resorts for older men have declined, and most sex museums closed in the 1990s-2000s.[6][7][8][9][10]
The first
Russian sex museum opened in 2004 in
Saint Petersburg; it claims to exhibit the preserved penis of
Rasputin.[17][18] However, experts are divived about the truth of this claim and it’s not scientifically proven to be his. It was allegedly sold to the museum in 1977 by Rasputin’s lion-tamer daughter, Maria.[19]
While not specifically a sex museum, the
National Archaeological Museum in
Naples opened its extensive collection of historic erotic art in its
Secret Cabinet to the public in 2000. Most of the exhibits are from Greek and Roman times, and many were recovered from nearby
Pompeii.[20]
The
Museo d'Arte Erotica, devoted to the erotic history of Venice and showing historical and contemporary erotic art opened in
Venice,
Italy, in February 2006.[21]
The
Sex Machines Museum in
Prague,
Czech Republic, contains "an exposition of mechanical erotic appliances, the purpose of which is to bring pleasure and allow extraordinary and unusual positions during intercourse." On display in the museum are "more than 200 objects and mechanical appliances on view, a gallery of art with erotic themes, a cinema with old erotic films, erotic clothing and many other things pertaining to human sexuality.[22]
The first erotic museum in
Lithuania opened in
Kaunas on 13 July 2009.
Athens's first sex museum, "Kama Sutra: the World Museum of Erotic Art", opened in the Omonoia center at 44 Kapodistriou Street in 2012.[23]
Moscow's first sex museum, named "Tochka G" ('G Spot') opened in 2011.[24]
The Erotic Museum in
Warsaw, the first sex museum in
Poland, opened in 2011 with over 2,000 exhibits. It reveals the erotic fascinations of artists from all continents.[25] The museum closed at the beginning of 2012 as they searched for a new location and more funds to keep the museum afloat.
^"Ανακοινωση – Αναγγελια Πολιτιστικου Γεγονοτος" [Notice – Announcement of a Cultural Event]. Erotica Museum (in Greek). Greece. Archived from
the original on 22 February 2012. Ιδρύθηκε και άρχισε να λειτουργεί το παγκόσμιο Μουσείο Ερωτικής Τέχνης "Καμα Σουτρα", επί της οδού Καποδιστρίου 44 στην πλατεία Βάθης από 12/2/12. [The World Museum of Erotic Art "Kama Sutra" was founded and started to operate, on 44 Kapodistriou Street in Vathis Square from 12/2/12.]
^Ridinger, Robert (2005). "Founding of the Leather Archives & Museum". LGBT History, 1988-1992 [serial online]. LGBT Life with Full Text, EBSCOhost: 33–36.