Women’s sexual pleasure and their vulvas celebrated in experimental art event aiming to remove the negativity from ‘down there’
- ‘Dear Labia’, held at The Wild Lot space in Sheung Wan, provides space for women to try self-exploration and learn to appreciate themselves and their bodies
- There will also be intimacy workshops for couples to connect with their partners, and female participants can make plaster models of their vulvas
Sex educator Vera Lui Wing-hang has given many talks at schools in Hong Kong. But it was a conversation she had a couple of years ago with a 15-year-old girl that has stuck with her.
“I’d just finished a talk and this young girl came up to me and whispered, ‘Vera, I think my labia is ugly. I want to save up the money and have plastic surgery,’” the schoolgirl told Lui, referring to labiaplasty surgery, a procedure to reduce the size of the labia minora – the flaps of skin either side of the vaginal opening.
“This schoolgirl felt so insecure because her boyfriend had been shaming her, telling her that she was not normal ‘down there’. I showed her castings of vulvas from artists who live in Europe and the States and said, ‘Look, every vulva is different and yours is unique.’”
Now Lui is taking the topic further with “Dear Labia”, an experimental art event celebrating vulvas and female sexual pleasure through a series of art activities and workshops at The Wild Lot space in Sheung Wan, from November 25 to December 8.
“It’s a safe space for women to explore sensitive topics in a supportive and judgment-free environment,” says Lui, who is also the founder of the sex lifestyle shop Sally Coco.