Provocative? It shouldn’t be: the Vagina Museum reopens in London
Following almost six months of temporary closure, the Vagina Museum is reopening in its brand new location of Bethnal Green, London.
The Vagina Museum’s OOH campaign
The world’s first bricks-and-mortar museum dedicated to vaginas, vulvas and the gynaecological anatomy started as a series of pop-up events in 2017. It opened its first fixed premises two years later at Camden Market and since then more than 150,000 people have visited its exhibitions including Muff Busters: Vagina Myths and How to Fight Them and Periods: A Brief History.
To coincide with the new location, TheOr London has devised an out-of-home (OOH) campaign titled ‘Neighbours’ as a way to integrate into the local neighborhood.
“Half the word has a vulva, a vagina and a clitoris – it should be normal to use these words in our everyday vernacular and be comfortable seeing them mentioned on billboards,” said Nathalie Gordon, creative director at TheOr London.
“If anyone finds the campaign sensationalist, inappropriate or weird, it says more about them than it does the work or the museum.”
Launching yesterday (March 3), the posters are intended to draw parallels between establishments already in the area and the museum’s offering, whereas some play on anatomical knowledge and bring to light the values of the museum itself.
Back in September last year, the Vagina Museum’s lease in Camden Market was not renewed, which resulted in a public search for new premises.
“We’re thrilled to be able to reopen our doors to the public. During our temporary closure, we’ve had so many people express how much they missed us,” added Florence Schechter, founder and director of the Vagina Museum.
“Since the beginning of this project, it’s been crucial to us for the Vagina Museum to exist as a physical space. These last few months have been tough as we’ve searched for a new home. We’re excited to become a part of the vibrant community in Bethnal Green.”
Running specifically in East London in static and digital OOH formats, all media space has been kindly donated to the museum by long-term supporters Jack Arts, as well as new partners Clear Channel.
“It’s been a pleasure to create some eye-catching vag-tastic work for the Vagina Museum again,” noted senior creatives Amy Fasey and Jacob Hellström.
“Not only are they a bunch of wonderful people, driving incredible change, they repeatedly push the boundaries of the spaces they are in – allowing bravery in work that we rarely see.”
