Vulva plaster workshop at the museum on International Women's Day

The MEWO Kunsthalle in Memmingen wants to contribute to the removal of taboos with a vulva plaster workshop on International Women's Day. For a long time, the image of the vulva was taboo and its depiction was often dismissed as obscene, explained the municipal museum on Friday. The ignorance about the female body is also reflected in false representations of the clitoris.

In the two-hour workshop on March 8, participants will have the opportunity to first mold their vulva with a mass called alginate - which is also used in dental practices to make dental impressions.

For this molding, for which the women naturally have to undress, a corner is cut off to offer a certain amount of privacy, said acting director Axel Städter. The negative mold is then cast in plaster to create a personal sculpture.

Initially, these sculptures are intended for private personal use. They can be set up or further processed and painted. "We are not aiming for an exhibition," Städter emphasized.

The aim is to "make things that were not visible visible in the first place," Städter said. A corresponding penis plaster workshop was not planned for this reason either. There are penis representations in many places. You don't always have to "automatically reflexively" do something for men as soon as you do something for women.

In art and pop culture, too, the image of the vulva as an expression of femininity and self-acceptance challenges traditional boundaries and opens up new perspectives, he continued.

The workshop was a good fit: Many female artists are currently exhibiting at the MEWO Kunsthalle, Städter said. At the same time, the art world is still male-dominated in many cases. According to Städter, as of Friday, no women had registered for the free workshop - part of the City of Memmingen's International Women's Day program.