International Penis Festival at the Erotic Museum

The Penis Festival (or Acer Phallus Festival) is known as "Kanamara Matsuri", has its origin in Japan and the museum has a small permanent exhibition that values these days. The Festival kicks off on April 6th with a live shibari show, the Japanese erotic art of ropes. The celebration will run until April 13th, International Kissing Day.

"As it is a Festival with origins in Japan, during these days with guided tours we delve especially into the secrets of Japanese erotic art, known as shunga", explains sexologist Sigrid Cervera, responsible for the educational area of MEB. Geishas, samurais, and fantastic beings, among others, star in extraordinary prints where both male and female genitals are reflected in a large and exaggerated manner without shame. The institution has a wide original collection of these shunga prints

Origin of the Penis Festival

Kanamara Matsuri is the Penis Festival (or Acer Phallus Festival), a festival related to fertility and the well-being of marriages celebrated in Japan, specifically in the city of Kawasaki, on the first Sunday of April. On this day, three large penises venerated as symbols are carried in procession to the Kanayama shrine: a large steel penis, a pink penis, and another wooden one. Precisely in the MEB, there is a scale reproduction of the wooden phallus. The Festival is all about fun and the streets are filled with penises. The origins of this tradition date back to the Edo period (Tokyo of the 17th-18th centuries), a time when the city's prostitutes approached the Shinto shrine of Wakamiya to ask for protection in their work.

The cult of the phallus throughout history

Through the tour invited by the MEB and especially with the guided tours by sexologist Sigrid Cervera, the visitor discovers that the cult of the phallus is present in history in various cultures around the world. From the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt to the pre-Columbian cultures of Latin America, and Asian and African cultures. "Carved in wood, stone, or metal, many of them were worn as amulet pendants as they were believed to provide protection, good luck, or 'sexual potency'", explains Cervera. "Throughout the tours, in addition to appreciating the various representations, we share legends and curiosities, for example, we discover how the cult of the phallus in ancient Pompeii is closely related to the ancients' belief in the evil eye and we explain the story of Priapus, always represented with an enormous erect penis," explains Cervera.

New acquisitions and new space

"We are very happy because this is the first year we celebrate the Festival with a new exhibition space dedicated especially to the cult of the Phallus throughout history", explains Rippert. "One of the main protagonists of the new room is our latest acquisition, a sample of the largest ceramic phallus in the world," Rippert states. Of Italian origin, "Imperi" measures 82 cm and weighs 19 kilos.

During all these days, visitors will enjoy entering MEB with a glass of sake or cava and take pictures with some of the large penises that are part of the collection.