London’s World-Famous Vagina Museum to Reopen Next Month After Forced Closure

It's "the world's first bricks-and-mortar museum dedicated to vaginas, vulvas, and the gynecological anatomy," and it's making a comeback after a successful fundraising campaign after its early 2023 closure.

The Guardian and other sources have reported that The Vagina Museum in London reached its fundraising target of $89,787, thanks to over 2,500 donors. This funding will enable the museum to relocate to a more spacious venue, with a reopening planned for Nov. 4.

Originally inaugurated in 2017, the museum had to close its doors in February 2023 when the property guardianship ended, according to the outlet.

"The Vagina Museum was founded with the intention of busting the stigma of the gynecological anatomy and be part of a societal shift from bodily shame to celebration," the website says. 

In its larger space, the museum plans to highlight different facets of women's health using interactive displays and engaging storytelling.

The opening exhibit, "Endometriosis: Into the Unknown", as described by The Guardian, "looks at myths and misconceptions that surround the disease, from the cutting edge of research to the reality of living with the condition."

Discussing the choice of exhibit, The Vagina Museum's Director of Communications, Zoe Williams, told the outlet that the subject of endometriosis was in high demand.

"Ever since we opened, one of the number one things that people have asked for is 'can you do something about endometriosis?'" Smith told The Guardian. "This is because endometriosis is incredibly common, but not many people know much about it. Even some people who have it have to learn and research quite a lot themselves…so it seemed like a real priority as an exhibition."

Florence Schechter, the museum's director, previously told The Guardian that her inspiration for the vagina museum was the penis museum in Iceland. 

"I discovered there was a penis museum in Iceland but no vagina equivalent anywhere else, so I decided to make one," Schechter said.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum, for reference, boasts "hundreds of phallic specimens" for visitors to explore.